


Into the Breach

by Dis_connect



Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-29
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2017-12-16 13:09:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 69,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/862375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dis_connect/pseuds/Dis_connect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An outcast Brawler joins forces with a runaway Royal.  While Emma just wants to get back home and indulge in a few creature comforts, Regina inadvertently starts a chain of events that drag them both into the bleak depths of Oblivion.  What they find will expose truths, forge unlikely Heroes, and redefine the face of Evil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fools Rush In

**Author's Note:**

> This might be foolish but I decided to dust off Oblivion and when I got to playing, my mind wandered to SQ, and it was all downhill from there. So this is SQ meets the Oblivion Crisis, writing as I play. If you have any funny/odd/frustrating things that happened to you while in Cyrodil, I'd love to hear about them!

    Screams had drawn her.  
  
    Screams of a woman, first.  But then the hollaring and panicked yelps of grown men.  
  
    She'd crept closer, bow resting easily in her left hand and the fletching of an arrow soft in her right.  A knee settled to the dirt and she'd peeked around a boulder to spy on chaos.  One woman stood amid a scramble of bandits, her piecemeal armor rattling as she raised her hands again, a red glow literally sucking the life out of the most brazen.  He dropped to his knees and then his side, blank eyes regarding iron-plated ankles while his stolen lifeforce healed cuts and pushed out arrows.    
  
    Emma took a breath, adjusted position, pressed her back into the boulder, and waited.  Sure enough only a minute passed before she had two bandits race away from the battle, discretion being the better part of their valor.  Unfortunately, Emma had been on her way to eradicate this particular nest and she released a slow breath, loosing an arrow straight into the back of a woman's skull.  Let Arkay see to mercy.  A fireball chased down her male counterpart and silence overcame the glenn.  
  
    A few minutes passed before there was the clear sound of a victor rifling through corpses for valuables.  As she was with honor, no matter how unique it might be defined, Emma quietly left her cover and crept for her kill.    
  
    Her skin prickled and she rolled to the left in time to avoid the flames.  A spin in the dirt, rising to her knees, and Emma had an arrow knocked and drawn.  "Hold it!"  
  
    Fire rolled around the Breton's palm, her dark hair and dark eyes catching hints of the glow.  She was clearly thinking of another shot, gauging the risk.  So Emma gained her feet with a smooth lift, relaxing her pull ever so.  "Drop the fire and I won't kill you."  
  
    "Your friends?" she sneered, the flames licking more eagerly around her fingers and wrist.  
  
    "Ha!  My prey." Emma grinned, tossing her blonde hair from her eyes.  "You got here before me, though.  I just want what I killed."  
  
    She glanced around, spying the red-fletched arrow jabbing up from the heather where she'd seen the last female bandit flee.  Her fist closed and the fire died.  "Fine.  Collect your loot and go.  I'm clearing this den."  
  
    "I have a contract." Emma added her arrow back to its quiver, producing the scroll from a pouch on her leather bandolier.  "Fifty gold promised to me if I bring back the merchant's wares."  
  
    The Breton tensed a little as Emma approached, her steps much heavier than before, and dropped the contract into her hands.  She reviewed it and rolled her dark eyes.  "I was promised the same."  
  
    "Ah." Emma sucked on her teeth in disappointment.  "Hedging his bets."  
  
    "Bastard."  
  
    "Split?"  
  
    Dark eyes roved over Emma's leather-clad body, lingering for a moment longer around her head - where there was only a leather hood to guard it.  "I could just kill you now and take the bounty for myself."  
  
    "You could try." Emma smirked in full confidence.  "Before your magical fires burn through my skin, I will have beaten you bloody for sure."  
  
    Her lip curled in distaste, noting how ragged the leather was, even if the set almost matched.  "A monk."  
  
    "A battle-mage." Emma flicked her finger off one thin iron pauldron.  
  
    "Sorceress." she retorted hotly, batting Emma's hand away.  "Battle-mages are kept pets."  
  
    "I see." her smirk returned.  "I'm Emma."  
  
    The Breton regarded the extended hand as though it would bite, making no room to extend her own.  "Regina.  Aren't monks supposed to wear robes?"  
  
    "Aren't Bretons supposed to be taller?" Emma snarked, turning towards the rickety wooden door plastered to the hillside.  "Are you coming or what?"  
  
    Regina clenched her fists and followed.  
  
  
      
    "Well...that was exciting."  
  
    Huffing for breath, Regina scowled, waiting with some impatience as her magica reserves slowly bubbled back up to acceptable levels.  Goblins had a wonderful rancid smell when alive and when she turned them to crispy critters, they smelled just _so_ much better.  Gagging hardly covered the description.  Emma, on the other hand, bounced lightly on her toes, breathing easy and shadowboxing.  The monk hadn't been lying - she hit like a godsdamned wall.  One Goblin's skull had actually folded in on itself at the impact.  
  
    "You ready?"  
  
    She wasn't but she also wasn't going to use one of her potions.  Not yet.  They were precious to her still.  Regina pushed off the wall, squinted in the darkness, and took in a deep breath.  She at least wasn't in any danger of passing out now.  "Take point."  
  
    "Yeah!" Emma drew her bow and knocked it, crouching down into a ridiculous, if effective, stealthy squat as she moved.    
  
    It must have been some wonder of her green eyes, or some enchantment, but Emma saw in the dark like a cat.  Regina had already knocked her head twice, the clang of her helm, and Emma's snickering, infuriating her such that she'd removed the damn thing, tucked it into her pack, and let the monk lead.  Regina had tried squatting and creeping along like the lightly-armored Emma however her thighs burned at the excess strain and she'd taken the stance of a simple walk to ease down on noise.  
  
    "Think they have some ringleader bandit idiot controlling the goblins?  Or were they really stupid enough to camp in a goblin cave?"  
  
    Speaking of noise.  
  
    "Or maybe we'll find a Shaman!  They always have something good."  
  
    Divines save her from murdering this mouthy beast, it was a wonder the creatures of the warrens hadn't heard them this entire time!  "Shut up and kill something, monk."  
  
    "Swan."  
  
    "What?"  
  
    Emma sighed and stopped, looking over her shoulder.  "If you're going to call me anything other than my name, call me Swan."  
  
    Dare she ask?  Bright eyes gleamed in the unmoving body ahead of her and Regina glowered.  "Why?"  
  
    "It was my code name."  
  
    At least she was shuffling forward now but the non-sequitur had stirred Regina's curiosity.  "Did the Thieves Guild kick you out?"  
  
    Emma was smirking, it was clear from the short, amused huff of breath.  "Never been in."  She paused, loosed an arrow, and heard the satisfying screech of a goblin's life ending before pressing on.    
  
    "Favorite animal?"  
  
    "Are we becoming friends?"  
  
    Frigid silence was her answer and Emma filled it by checking around a corner.  
  
    "There are twelve moves every monk must learn, all inspired by animals and the natural world."  
  
    "Fascinating." she snipped, launching a fireball at a rat that had made the mistake of squeaking.  
  
    "Nice shot.  It is interesting, isn't it?  There's the Troll, the Bear, the Lion, the Fish, the-"  
  
    "Could you please shut up!?"  
  
    The hiss caught the attention of a goblin but a combined arrow and fireball took him down before he'd stepped twice.  Emma made a face but remained quiet.  They edged up on a door decorated with strands of skulls and Emma peeked in, counting quietly.  
  
    "The _Fish_?  Really?"  
  
    She almost laughed, her breath hitching as she leaned away from the portal.  "Yes.  The Fish.  I was right.  A Shaman, only one buddy otherwise."  
  
    "Joy."  
  
    "Hey, you're all magicky.  You want the Shaman?"  
  
    She rolled her eyes at the description.  "I gain whatever he has."  
  
    "Aw, split?"  
  
    "Miss Swan."  
  
    "Eyech...miss?"  
  
    Regina gave her a rough shove.  
  
    "Alright, alright.  His buddy should go down quick.  You distract the big guy."  
  
    Before Regina could affirm, Emma nudged the door open and swung around, hugging the frame as she took down the guard.  He fell with a wet thud and Emma scrambled back as a Scamp, a bloody _Scamp_ , appeared just in front of her.  It loosed a raspy giggle and bounced towards the Shaman, spitting out fireballs and scratching with claws.  Emma glanced back to see that Regina had loosed a glove and was checking her nails.  
  
    "What?" the Breton huffed.  "You wanted a distraction."  
  
    The death rattle of the Shaman echoed in the small space and Emma shivered when the Scamp disappeared into nothingness.  "That is creepy as fuck."  
  
    "To you." Regina mock-patted her shoulder as she passed, entering the space and smiling at the sight of a skull-topped staff.  "Ha, you should do nicely."  
  
    Emma skulked in after her, smiling only when she spied a chest tucked into the shadows.  "Yes!"  
  
    Regina watched with a raised chin.  "Why am I not surprised you know how to pi--"  
  
    " _Shh_!"  
  
    "Did you just shush me?"  
  
    It was Emma's turn to roll her eyes and she abandoned hope, jamming the pick and twisting the thin torque wrench forcefully.  There was the snap of a spring and a baleful click as the lock submitted to brutal treatment.  She pulled the tools back, inordinately pleased to see that the pick was unharmed.  "I can't hear the damn tumblers if you're yapping in my ear."  
  
    "I do not _yap_!"  
  
    "Uh-huh." she muttered, eagerly pocketing a fair satchel of gold and a small ruby.  "Jackpot."  
  
    "I thought we were splitting."  
  
    It was only thanks to the Shaman's firelight that Emma could see her counterpart actually _bat_ her dark eyes.  She rose up to her full height, mindful of the low ceiling, and glanced at the top-heavy staff in Regina's hands.  It fairly crackled with unspent magical energies.  "You think that's not going to sell for more than thirty-five measly coins?"  
  
    "Maybe one hundred if I'm extra nice to the clerk but that will be room and board with a meal and repairs..."  
  
    "You might as well just buy a new set." Emma rubbed at a bit of rust on Regina's torso-guard.  "Nothing personal but it looks like you found this on a ten-year-dead corpse."  
  
    Well, since her natural charms seemed rather lost on the brute, Regina slapped the hand away and poked Emma dead center in the chest.  "What use does a monk have for all that gold?"  
  
    She shrugged, taking the less-wise path and turning her back on the sorceress to reach the exit, picking up a crate of stolen merchandise on the way.  "Monks in a monastery may lead a much simpler life, princess, but this one is always on the move."  
  
    "Don't call me princess."  
  
    "You want to get out of here without a headache?  Grab those two bags and let's go."  
  
      
  
    Roughly twelve hours later, Emma woke with a splitting headache of her own; firmly ensconced in the Imperial Dungeon.  It took her about an hour of wandering around, being treated like pure scum in spite of walking with the Emperor [never mind all his doom and gloom chatter about saviors and Oblivion], before she recalled exactly what had happened.  She'd parted company with Regina about two hours after their little dungeon diving exploit, intent on collecting half the bounty and demanding he reserve the other half for her partner in...agreement?  Bickering?  
  
    Almost the very minute she'd strolled through the gates, walking with light steps towards the massive dragon statue, she'd been accosted by half a dozen guards while even more were surrounding Regina, her dark eyes wet and cheeks tear-stained.  Her shoulders shook, her body trembled, and she cringed away from the sight of Emma, spinning some story of how she was a brigand that had ripped away all but the clothes on Regina's back.  When Emma fought back, sputtering and seeing red, she'd been clocked on the back of the head.  
  
    Now...  
  
    She broke from the sewers and inhaled a goodly amount of fresh air, no matter the rain.  She'd found a very rough, very worn leather curiass and boots on her foray through the underground along with a bow and some arrows.  Arrows that were going to find Regina very, very soon.  
  
  
  
    Unfortunately, all told she'd not had enough to buy a horse so cheap unless she wanted to walk the week-long journey down to Bravil and buy a lame, cross-eyed, paint horse.  Therefore wine it was!  
  
    She steered clear of the beers, no matter the recommendations, and slapped down enough gold to swipe a bottle or three of Tamika's fine brew.  Roxey had been kind enough to never let her tankard go empty and ensured her food was free - which it damn well aught to be with how expensive the wine was!  After a month of barely scraping by, half-starved and crazy, she was going to take a night to relax and breathe deep.  In the morning she could plan her next move and maybe dupe some new idiot.  
  
    Regina was amazed it had gone so well at all - the monk had really been a huge fool!  Were all peoples of Cyrodil so moronic?  If so, her journey across the land would be all too easy.  Perhaps she could even manage to hide in Cyrodil for a few years - gods it had been so long since she had just stopped.  However the memories of what awaited her if she lingered anywhere too long were always biting at her heels, always keeping her moving.  She took another deep swallow before realizing she'd had the last of her wine.  
  
    "Roxey!"  
  
    Another bottle appeared as though by magic, the empty gone as fast, and Regina grinned while pouring yet another tankard.  This was her...third bottle?  It was hard to keep track what with the ramshackle inn being full of the adventuring sort milling around nervous peasants; all of them eyeing her succor-ladened table with envy.  Her shiny new steel armor was heavy as a Dremora Lord in full regalia but she bore it proudly.  She'd even grown used to the weight on her walk to the inn and just damn well might sleep in it to prove a point.  
  
    To...someone.  
  
    Yeah.  
  
    A small bottle of cheap mead was slammed onto her table and Regina came up from her musings to frown at the intrusion.  She looked up and up until she saw fierce green eyes set in a stern face framed by mused golden locks.  "Oh shit, s'you..."  
  
    "Yeah, me." Emma growled, eyes drinking in the pearlescent new armor.  Her back teeth ached with how hard she clenched her jaw and she forced herself to relax, to sit, to not draw attention to herself.  "I see you've invested wisely."  
  
    Regina patted her armored chest with a smirk.  "Looks good, hm?"  
  
    That damned giant amulet, she was supposed to take it somewhere, was burning subtly against her chest and had been for the full of her grumbling, bitter walk there.  The more agitated she became, the stronger the sting.  She knew of Roxey's modest inn, a break on the road between Cheyhindal and everywhere West of it, and decided a little break and some sleep would leave her ready to track her own personal felon with the dawn.  Not in a million years would she have imagined she'd run into her prey on the first go.  Whoever Regina was, she clearly had no idea how to be a ruffian.  "Yeah, my money looks great on you.  Speaking of, I'll take the rest of whatever you have."  
  
    Dark eyes sharpened.  "Careful, Miss Swan.  Someone will think you're trying to rough me up again."  
  
    Emma's knuckles landed on the table with a soft thud of finality when she leaned over, growling in her best threatening register.  "When I rough you up, you'll know it."  
  
    "Promises, promises."  
  
    Emma blinked at that, confused, especially when Regina sighed and frowned down at her armor, neck angled at such a way it couldn't have been comfortable with how she was slouching.  Deep eyes, the color of soaked earth, not black as first imagined, stared into her, taking on that false sorrow she'd seen before her incarceration.  "It makes me look fat, doesn't it?"  
  
    The monk's forehead tapped the tabletop in disbelief.    
  
      
    Apparently Sorceresses were quite grabby when they weren't being lying pains in the ass.  It was made all the worse by the cumbersome steel armor as Emma was all but carrying the slammed woman!  When Regina looked ready to lob more insults her way, having sensed Emma's confusion, the monk had jammed all the food and remaining wine, and mead, into her rucksack before stabbing her chin up towards the ceiling.  
  
    She realized it was probably better just to leave the stupid girl to whatever fate when she'd passed out but Emma had her own damned moral code, no matter how twisted the road.  
  
    "Hey, hey now..." Emma growled, slapping steel-guarded fingers away from her legs.  Again.  
  
    "You used to have actual pants..." was the muttered wondering.  
  
    "Well some thief tried to gut me on the road and after I knocked him cold, I realized the leathers were going to be warmer, if only barely, than those damned sackcloth skivvies they drop on prisoners."  
  
    Regina snorted inelegantly before giggling all to herself.  Emma hauled her up the last few steps through force of sheer strength, getting her back against the wall for her trouble and Regina half-slumped against her.  The steel helm's nose banged painfully into Emma's cheekbone when Regina leaned up to kiss her.  
  
    It was far from the worst, sloppiest kiss she'd ever received but damn if it didn't harm the Sorceress' already damaged status in Emma's eyes.  She pushed the handsy woman off and opened her mouth to speak but--  
  
    "S'there a lot of wiggling in the Fish?"  
  
    Either she hadn't been laid in the last few years or she was well and truly plastered beyond belief!  Emma stopped the roaming hands and pushed Regina back further.  "I'll tell you about it when you're sober."  
  
    "Gonna stay with me?" she tried to purr, though it was more of a whine.  
  
    Emma sighed, opening the door and accidentally (okay, maybe a little on purpose) knocked Regina back, to where she stumbled straight onto the bed, flopping down like an armored ragdoll.  "Get some sleep, princess.  You'll need it come morning."  
  
    There were a few wordless grumbles that left Emma feeling fine with her decision to not strip the woman of her armor.  Let her godsdamned sleep in Emma's money, all the better for the monk to gloat about it tomorrow.  
  
  
  
      
    Regina was indeed sore the next day - less for sleeping in the armor and more that she slept in one position all night, in heavy armor.  She was positive her greaves had given her a pinched nerve in her right hip.  Per her normal, she'd suffered no hangover, which she'd boasted of and Emma had grumbled about before they picked up on the road.  The monk's consitution was grand apart from having to listen to a pair, or a threesome at one point, screwing just down the very narrow, very not-soundproof hall all damn night.  
  
    "What?  We are not traveling together!"  
  
    Emma yawned and stretched widely, feeling just a little off as the morning breeze moved past her.  The poor huntsman-turned-thief had hopefully not frozen to death last night.  His leggings kept Emma warm, if feeling a bit exposed.  She turned slightly and caught Regina staring.  "You and I are going to travel together until I get back everything I lost.  Every scrap of armor, every arrow, every damned one of my gold pieces."  
  
    Regina looked ready to protest but Emma silenced her with a glare.  
  
    "You stole from me, princess.  Using a bit of theatrics and my size against me.  Now, you may not have any moral code in that spoiled rotten brain but around here, that's an owed debt.  You try to run and I will find you...it's kind of my specialty.  You try and pull this shit again and when I get out, I won't be nearly as nice and you sure as silver won't be walking away."  
  
    "I am not a Princess!"  
  
    Huh.  Emma couldn't have been that far fooled.  Whatever Regina wasn't, she was at least a Lady with one or two servants - her spellcasting was good but her movement within heavy armor was tedious and clumsy as though she'd rarely donned a set before.  "Well, whatever you are, let's get going.  I'm ferrying a trinket for our beloved, dead Emperor."  
  
    "The Emperor is dead?" Regina gasped, biting her lower lip in trepidation.  Surely she wouldn't have gone that far...!  
  
    "Cold-stone and gone." Emma shrugged, ever nonchalant.  
  
    "B-but his heirs...I heard they were assassinated?"  
  
    "All of 'em.  Apparently except for one.  Probably the bastard of an illicit thrill on the road since they kept it under wraps."  
  
    "One more heir." she breathed, half in relief though the rest was sucked back into her mouth.  "The Amulet of Kings?!"  
  
    Emma produced the heavy red stone, twisting it about in the dawn.  "I think that's what he called it."  
  
    "Shh!" the sorceress hissed, pushing Emma's hand out of sight and stepping close to conceal the gem.  "Do you know how many enemies of the Empire would kill to possess this?!"  
  
    "They have to know it's missing first." she groused, stepping back and concealing the trinket once more.  "If you're done gawking, I'm going to start walking.  I expect you to follow."  
  
    Regina did keep pace, glancing over to Emma in wonderment.  The monk had absolutely no idea what sort of power she held or she was a complete idiot.  How easily Regina could claim the amulet!  And if there were truly an heir, she needed only to wait until the two came together and she would have the key to a kingdom spanning Tamriel!  The idea tickled her brain but she forced it down with a cold hand.  There was a reason she was on the run and though she'd just been keeping out of sight, rising up with such treasures could only mean horrible things for Cyrodil and beyond.    
  
    How could Emma be so...blase about it?!  
  
    "Pardon me..."  
  
    Regina about came out of her skin, fire leaping to life in both hands as she twisted, searching for the voice's source.  Emma had hunched over slightly, her fists at the ready.  There was a sigh and the same voice spoke up once more.  "I'm afraid you can't see us but...well, we are in desperate need of your help!"  
  
    Great.  



	2. On the Road

    "All's well that Aleswell!"  
  
    Emma had chuckled politely at her host's terrible humor all night and entertained his wide-eyes and ears with tales of the world beyond the tiny farming commune.  His sisters were non-plussed about it and the monk half expected to get a knife in her sleep but the pair grumbled and tutted off, out of the inn, and Emma could relax.  
  
    It wasn't until late that they were freed from the zealous lad's attentions and even then, he persisted until Regina, at the limit of her patience, delivered such a stinging, polite goodnight that the boy finally got the message.    
  
    "You really have some bite, Regina."  
  
    "He's an idiot.  You have to be firm with them." she huffed, beating her poor, lumpy pillow into submission.  
  
    Emma sighed, slapping her back against the wall and sliding down to sit on the floor, knees drawn up and hands hanging limp between her thighs.  Her spine cracked quietly, relieving the knot that had developed while climbing back up the hill to return with good news.  "There are idiots everywhere in the world, highness."  
  
    "Stop calling me that."  
  
    "Right, right..."  
  
    Regina dropped her boots with the most amount of noise possible, just to see Emma's face twitch.  She wasn't sleeping in her armor again!  "Why do you call me those names?"  
  
    A green eye cracked open.  "Why don't you call me by my name?"  
  
    "We are not friends."  
  
    "I suppose not."  
  
    "The second this 'debt' is paid, our ways will part."  
  
    The other eye peeked open, just for a moment  "I get the feeling you're not used to being at someone's behest."  
  
    But Regina's face flushed and her expression twisted into anger.  "You know _nothing_ of me!"  
  
    Such vehemence surprised Emma but she pushed on.  "I know soft-hands when I see them.  Even if you have a deep well of magica, you haven't worn such a thick skin for very long."  
  
    Silence stifled the tiny room and Emma watched her companion's fingers twitch in her peripheral as though Regina might roast her and the inn.  However the sorceress simply turned away and peeled off the last vestiges of armor before crawling onto the rickety bed, turning her back to Emma.  The Monk breathed deeply, sealing her eyes shut, while she attempted to fall into a meditative sleep.  
  
  
  
    They left Aleswell just before dawn, creeping away before their admirer could sink his claws into them once more.  For six hours, they travelled in relative silence.  Occasional stops were made so Regina could adjust her armor and Emma could collect various bits of flora.  Regina wished to stay on the road, the better to avoid angry wildlife, and Emma relented only because the path to dropping off the necklace didn't actually require off-roading.  
  
    South they turned and a fair wind brought cool air off Lake Rumora, easing the afternoon down from 'godsawful' to just about 'horrible'.  Emma watched Regina loosening her armor, again, several paces ahead and cleared her throat.  "Let's stop for a bit."  
  
    "No, we can keep moving a while longer."  
  
    Emma rolled her eyes, strolling off the road and plopping down in the shade of a bushy cedar, rummaging through her pack.  It wasn't five minutes before a heavy steel helmet dropped into the shade, as did the louder curiass, right before Regina settled herself more gracefully on the grass.  The monk withheld her snort at Regina's almost perfectly controlled descent.  Damn woman was wound up tighter than a mudcrab's waterproof ass!  Her red-silk shirt, more of Emma's money gone to waste, was soaked with sweat; a sign of the effort she had tried to conceal, though she had almost stumbled once or twice.  
  
    "Start with this, hm?"  
  
    Regina bit delicately into the soft flesh of the pear tossed her way, chewing with equal decorum before moving in for another bite.  She paused when Emma's snort of amusement sounded.  "Finding something funny, Miss Swan?"  
  
    "Just eat the damn thing, Regina.  Not like there's a brigade of prissy nobles about to cavort by any second now to gawk at you enjoying yourself!"  
  
    She wished to resist, to display a stubbornness she'd always fallen back on.  But the day had been quite hot, making her wish for the Northern slopes of the Jerall Mountains, and she just knew Emma wasn't going to let it go.  Holding green eyes steady, she took a much healthier bite of the succulent fruit, juice dribbling down her chin for the trouble.  
  
    "Not so bad, is it?" the monk smirked, wiping the escaped juice off with her fingertips before thinking it through.  Regina jerked her chin away and Emma could only shrug a shoulder, tossing a quarter-loaf of drying bread at the brunette.  
  
    "Do monks always eat by throwing food at one another?"  
  
    "You keep catching it.  Good reflexes."  
  
    "Of course."  
  
    "And modesty."  
  
    Regina actually smiled, just a little.  
  
    They proceeded through the brief, light luncheon without further hassle but it was when Emma found the sweetroll tucked between two potatoes that their hackles twitched again.  "Huh, lookit that.  A little dessert."  
  
    And how Regina was looking!  Her dark eyes shot to Emma's face and the monk could see the transformation happening!  Round puppy-eyes seeped to the surface and Emma returned a flat, droll look.  "See something you like, highness?"  
  
    Not even the nickname altered Regina's expression.  She actually scooted closer, the armored length of her left thigh pressing against Emma's right, and breathed in the sugary scents.  "You are going to share, right?"  
  
    Doing the exact opposite in payback for Regina's idea of 'sharing' had crossed Emma's mind.  More than once in the last minute, in fact.  Instead, she grabbed the edge and unfolded it about an inch, slipping the confection between her teeth with a sigh of delight.  "Should we split it?" she asked in all seriousness.  "As in without jail time."  
  
    The puppy eyes disappeared, replaced by a deep-seated spark of happiness that actually threw Emma for a loop.  No remorse, no acknowledgement of the quiet threat, just unbridled joy at the idea of having such a treat!  It was just a spark, though, a single moment before Regina's expression returned to a slightly superior, guarded state.  "If you don't mind."  
  
    Emma gave it a few heartbeats before tearing the sticky dessert in half and presenting it to Regina.  "Your wish is my command, highness."  
  
    Regina hummed in delight at the first taste, but muttered around the treat.  "Stop calling me that."  
  
    "Manners, highness."  
  
    " _Emma_!"  
  
      
    The afternoon passed quickly thereafter, aided by Emma forcing them to stop two more times to investigate ruins or a nearby cave.  She went on and on about Ayleid ruins and artifacts and how some nutter in the Imperial City was bananas for anything Ayleid - one single statue would pay Regina's debt three times over.  By the time they came across Weynon Priory, the skies were dark apart from the stars.    
  
    "This is it?"  
  
    "Yeah."  
  
    Somehow Regina felt apprehensive merely standing at the boundary line of the Priory - the place tingled with an odd magic and there was the faint, ever so, scent of darkness about it.  She was sure the monks were wonderful within, perhaps Emma even knew one or two, but she wasn't about to approach.  
  
    Fortunate for her, then, that Emma turned to the West and continued walking.  
  
    "E-Emma?"  
  
    "It's late, I don't want to bother them.  We'll sell those trinkets and take a room at the inn for tonight.  Chorrol's just up the road."  
  
    For once, Regina didn't feel like being contrary at all.  
  
    She did, however, pull Emma up short when the monk swung right once inside of the gates.  "Where are you going?"  
  
    "The inn." she nodded towards a weathered box of tinder.  
  
    "Absolutely not." Regina growled, tugging at her companion's arm.  "This way."  
  
    Half dragged across town, Emma managed to maintain her footing, coming to a rock-solid stop when she saw the sign posted.  "Oh, no, no, Regina..."  
  
    "What?"  
  
    She should've known the princess would be a member of the bleeding Mages Guild.  Her green eyes rolled longingly one building down.  On the steps leading up to the door, she could see two armored fellows chatting and laughing amicably.  Surely there would be ale and music if she just turned-  
  
    "Miss Swan!"  
  
    Regina had tracked the longing glance and sighed hotly when Emma startled.  "I am not being dragged into what is two ales short of a brothel when there are soft beds and fine wines to be had!  No matter how long it takes for this debt to settle, that is my term."  
  
    Damn.  Emma's nose crinkled but she forged ahead, following Regina into the cool fane chock full of magica users.  The whole place made her itch and though she'd made an effort once, she was still only an associate in their eyes after a full year of 'training' [which consisted mostly of running over to the Fighters Guild for a few quick fisticuffs with sensible folk].  They paused and Regina chatted up the one Altmer willing to buy anything off the grungy monk.  Emma handed her trinkets over with a resentful glare but no commentary.  
  
    Stupid Elves always overcharged and underpaid anyone but their own.  
  
    With that settled, Emma gaining back some of her dues and Regina that much closer to freedom, they pushed on to the second story to seek rest.  Regina seemed in fine spirits, chiding Emma's dislike of the Mages Guild between talking about the Chorrol chapter's members.  An empty room was found and Emma continued her mute acknowledgement of Regina's chatter while she loosened the ties on her curiass and toed off her boots.  The Amulet was warm on her skin but not half as hot as it had been that morning.  
  
    Regina's tirade faded with each bit of armor peeled away and set in a neat pile.  It was getting easier to wear yet she shed it with fervor; preferring the softer cushioning for sleeping soundly.  She had assumed Emma would sleep curled up, as she had each other night.  Therefore she jumped, gathering the silk bedclothes to her chest like some damsel in distress, when Emma's weight distended the other side.  "What are you doing?" she all but shrieked.  
  
    One foot shy of collapsing on the plush mattress, thank you Regina for being a snob, Emma froze and cocked a brow.  "Getting some sleep."  
  
    "Oh." she breathed, strangely annoyed.  "You don't normally sleep on the floor?"  
  
    "Who does?" she grumphed, hauling her body into motion again and sliding under the covers.  
  
    Regina pushed the covers away from her chest, rolling her eyes at herself.  She hadn't even acknowledged that the bed was, in fact, large enough for them both.  "The last few nights you--"  
  
    "I didn't want to weird you out, alright?  You're uptight enough as it is, I'm sure you'd have come out of your skin at the idea of sharing so little space."  
  
    That characterization was a _little_ unfair!  Regina huffed and rolled away from Emma, grumbling.  "Good night, Miss Swan!"  
  
    But Emma was already out cold.  
  
  
  
  
    "You go ahead."  
  
    Emma had given Regina an odd look but shrugged in her usual way before taking long strides up to the priory, careless confidence in each step.  The sorceress remained behind, taking a seat on the rocks parting priory and road and watching a small herd of sheep mill about.  It didn't strike her for about ten minutes that she was actually waiting for the annoying monk to return!  Though Emma boasted of tracking skills above reproach, anyone could become invisible if they truly wished to.  
  
    Of her pull from Emma's wrongful incarceration she had only thirty gold left, hardly enough to buy food for more than a few days let alone a place to stay each night.  Their take from yesterday's exploration went straight into Emma's purse and until the monk declared herself in the black, Regina was going to be stuck with only those thirty coins.  
  
    A sheep butted her head into Regina's boot, drawing the sorceress away from imaginings of starvation, and she stared dumbly at the animal when it did so again.  By the third hit, not exactly gentle, Regina made a face complete with an eyeroll.  "Aren't you a bossy one."  
  
    The ewe grunted in pleased reply while the metal-guarded toe of Regina's boot scratched her fluffy forehead.  
  
    A horse's steady clopping broke the moment.  Regina turned to see Emma leading a paint-horse by the reigns and wearing an epression stuck somewhere between annoyed and somber.  She gained her feet, almost bouncing on her toes as she approached the beast.  "Who is this?"  
  
    "Mirabelle."  
  
    "Really?"  
  
    "No but I butchered her owner's name so badly that now it's stuck in my head."  
  
    The heavy nose thumped into Regina's chest and she obligingly stroked the long face.  "Fair trade?"  
  
    "Hm?"  
  
    "You bring them the almighty Amulet of Kings and they gave you a horse?"  
  
    "Oh."  Emma pressed the reigns into Regina's hands and twisted her thumbs into her leather curiass.  "She's just to borrow, I guess."  
  
    "I...see."  
      
    It was just disappointed enough to draw Emma's attentions off the problem at hand however the slight urge to comfort surprised her.  "I, uh...I thought you might like this.  She'll be with us for a few days yet.  Apparently I'm off to fetch the Emperor's bastard son."  
  
    " _Emma_!"  
  
    "Sorry.  Does 'illegitimate' sound better?"  
  
    Regina rolled her eyes and moved down to check Mirabelle's tack.  "You don't like the Empire?"  
  
    "I don't like people telling me what to believe or do."  
  
    "Ah, a problem with authority.  Why am I not surprised?"  
  
    "Hey!  You're not doing so hot under _my_ thumb, majesty!"  
  
    Regina fixed her rucksack to the saddle, careful to ensure it wouldn't chafe or be in the way.  She waited long enough that Emma would know beyond doubt that she was being ignored before speaking up.  "So where is this missing son?"  
  
    "Kvatch."  
  
    The Sorceress' eyes narrowed over Mirabelle's saddle.  "That's at least two full days at a gallop _if_ we cut cross-country."  
  
    "Or at least a week if we stick to the road."  
  
    "Which means two since you'll have to stop and look into every ruin."  
  
    Emma scowled, slapping gently at Mirabelle's withers.  "Get into the damn saddle, Regina."  
  
    "You're not riding?"  
  
    "You want to walk?"  
  
    It was delivered with such a growl that Regina bristled and hauled herself into the saddle with the grace of a master.  "You know a horse is for _riding_ and not eating, yes?"  
  
    Green eyes narrowed up at her.  
  
    "Well, dear, you're such an uncultured brute at times, I almost forget you're not an Orc."  
  
    Emma resisted the urge to slap Mirabelle's flanks with enough force to make her buck, reminding herself that it could be over soon.  "The long way it is."  
  
    They turned East and Emma, just to be an ass and get her digs in, made them stop to clear out Fort Ash, which she had previously deemed to be moot.  When they emerged, thrice as filthy as when they went in, Emma boasted a heavier purse of gold, coins tucked away in the dark where the casual eye would not rest.    
  
    "Are those counting towards my tally?" Regina grimaced, pulling cobwebs from her hair.  She had wanted to just set the entire hall on fire, the better to avoid such a sticky mess, but Emma and all her sneaking refused.    
  
    "I don't know yet."  
  
    Regina snapped her fist shut so fast she heard a bone pop.  Setting things, and people, on fire was _her_ speciality.  Strangely enough, not many things enjoyed being on fire which meant that they bothered Regina less, which was fine for her.  She made a mental note to buy a Flame Atronach spell the next time she was flush.  _That_ would certainly buy her some space!  
  
    "Call me crazy, especially because you're such an annoying, privileged brat, but you're starting to grow on me."  
  
    "Seriously?" she cocked a brow.  
  
    "Yeah." Emma shrugged.  "Probably more like a fungus than fur, but...you know."  
  
    Regina's knuckles blanched white.  
  
  
  
    When they aimed to set up a 'camp' that night, Emma threw down an old brown bear fur and a linen blanket and nodded towards it.  "Get some sleep, majesty."  
  
    Regina, who had been biting her tongue all day, lashed out, the sound of her slap silencing the insects within immediate range.  Emma was still for a moment but she turned her face back to Regina, then away to deliberately expose her other cheek.  "You seem to like matching se--"  
  
    The second slap was even harder and made with her left hand, which still bore a gauntlet.  Emma took a half-step back to steady herself, thanking the Divines when she felt only a sting and not the trickle of blood she expected.  Regina looked absolutely furious and Emma, trouble to the end, desperately wanted to keep poking and prodding until the woman exploded.  
  
    "I have actually **_asked_ ** you to stop calling me those names when I have killed others for less!  Those titles are not me!"  
  
    Emma kept her back straight and leaned forward ever so, quietly daring Regina to try another strike.  "I know royalty when I see it and you, your highness, all but scream it."  She held up a hand, expression hardening when Regina tried to speak.  "You may be on the move for a crime, for love, gods you could even be deposed and living in the wilds out of some foolish pride but one thing above all others is clear.  You are strong, but you are alone.  Not even pride can save you from that."    
  
    She took a deep breath, sighing it out.  "Now, you have choices.  Either you keep traveling with me and remain safe, alive, and well-fed or break off from me now, take Mirabelle, and bear whatever the Fates have in store for you."  
  
    Said horse knickered softly and bumped her head into Regina's shoulder.  The sorceress automatically raised a hand to stroke Mirabelle's muzzle, glaring at Emma.  "You make it seem as though I have a choice but there is truly none."  
  
    "If that is how you see it, Regina." Emma smirked, watching a dark brow twitch.  "However there are choices.  For example, once you were astride Mirabelle you could have easily ridden off and been forever lost to my tracking but you made the choice not to.  Also, I have been crawling through some of Cyrodil's caverns and ruins for a few years now and thumping bandits before that.  Once I realized what you are, I knew it would be faster for me to simply go out and gather items that would bring my gold back yet I made the choice to stay with you, to drag you along on this little adventure and see if I could get your story."  
  
    "You've gotten nothing from me."  
  
    Emma's expression softened to a casual smile.  "True.  But perhaps one day."  A shrug.  "If you need a place to lay low and safe, I know of a few.  If you simply want me to abandon you at Skingrad, I can do that too.  Choices are everywhere.  For tonight, though, we are on the fringes of goblin country and I'll take a watch so you can sleep.  I would recommend not starting a fire."  
  
    With that, Emma strolled out of the 'camp' bounds and took a seat on a small boulder.  She seemed to fall into a meditation but Regina could tell her head swiveled around every few minutes.  She eyed the bedding and then Mirabelle, the mare already chewing a mouthful of grass and flowers.  "What do you think, hm?"  
  
    Mirabelle snorted.  
  
  
  
    Some strange instinct woke Regina.  
  
    There was no slow-waking, no hand drawing her from sleep.  The Sorceress' eyes snapped open and she rolled out of the way in time to avoid a hoof turning her brains to paste.  Before she could comprehend the dark, gangly shapes in the night, Regina pulled a protective cloak of magic around herself, fire exploding in her palms and inadvertently making her the center of attention.  
  
    On second thought, as soulless black eyes rolled towards her in the clap of silence, something in the twenty-goblin shuffle had likely woken her.  
  
    "Stupid girl, _roast them_!!"  
  
    Mirabelle shrieked and bolted from the chaos.  
  
    Regina used the moment to focus her energy, sending the hottest fire she could straight into the chest of a skull-helmed Shaman.  He turned into instant ash but his death riled the underlings and they rushed the Sorceress with unholy screams.  They threw themselves full-on into her shield, forcing Regina to replenish the barrier more so than cooking the cretins to well-done.  She heard the fleshy hammering of Emma's limbs somewhere in the dark and grew more than a little frustrated.  No way in all the planes of Oblivion was she going to be shown up and let the Monk take all the glory!  
  
    An arrow zipped through her shield, losing momentum on its way and clanking harmlessly off her back.  Regina narrowed her eyes, grin savage when a Zombie appeared just outside of the goblin ring.  It was missing an arm but that was hardly a barrier to a walking pile of disease!  They were hard to summon and harder to kill.  
  
    Regina's smile was snuffed when a rock, three times the size of her head, hammered into her Zombie's chest and pinned it to the ground.  Emma jumped into the firelight after the stone, landing on it just perfectly enough to crush the fight out of its victim.  
  
    " _No undead_!!"  
  
    "What are you doing?!"  
  
    Emma grabbed a goblin by the back of the neck and physically _threw_ it behind her, breaking the ring and shattering the stunted nose of another with her elbow.  She stabbed a finger at Regina.  "I _hate_ the undead!"  
  
    Glaring at the Monk, Regina flippantly summoned a Scamp.  Its giggle struck such a high pitch that Regina's skin prickled with gooseflesh and she sneered at Emma.  "Happy?!"  
  
    "I'm not _un_ happy!" the Monk growled, jerking back to avoid an axe to the temple.  
  
    Unfortunately Regina didn't enjoy her summoned Scamps.  Their Daedric energies were difficult to wrangle once arrived and she couldn't keep them in Tamriel long enough to truly satisfy.  Two more had to be summoned in short succession while Regina lobbed fireballs and lightning between each round.  Emma ghosted in and out of the firelight, usually with a grin on her lips that preceded the sickly crunch of bone and the peal of goblins on their way out.    
  
    When the last fell, at Regina's feet no less, the two had a moment to look at one another and share a breath before the skies broke open.    
  
    Chest heaving, Emma turned her grin to the sky, spreading her arms.  She could almost feel the goblin blood, oily and foul, sliding from her armor and skin.  Emma laughed, gasping breaths that loosed her muscles and allowed her to box up the fight for later examination.  Cuts and bruises stung where the water crept through, more insidious than the weapons that provided the space, and the Monk breathed a sigh of relief that she was alive!  
  
    Turning her head down, stringy blonde hair now pasted to her skull, Emma noticed Regina poking around the corpses, seeing what would sell best if at all.  Narrowing her eyes, she noted something sticking out the Sorceress' lower back and frowned.  "Regina?"  
  
    "Are you going to help me or just stand there like an idiot?"  
  
    "Uh, Regina I think there's something..."  
  
    "You're thinking?"  A snort.  "You couldn't have done that _before_ crushing my Zombie?!"  
  
    Emma frowned once more, crossing the bloody field and circling an arm around Regina's waist.  The Sorceress gasped but Emma didn't give her time to struggle.  "Deep breath," she muttered right before yanking the arrow out.  Regina did indeed drawn breath however it was terse and released in a low, pained whine.  Emma slowly led Regina to kneel on the ground while pressing a hand to the wound.  "Sorry if this hurts..."  
  
    A blast of hot, white magic burst from Emma's palm and shot along all of Regina's nerve endings, putting agony to new definition.  For a moment, she couldn't think or see or breathe.  As the magic withdrew and a second wave was readied, Regina groaned in protest but the magic was forced into her body again, screaming through her blood and slamming into the top of her skull.  It was restorative magic, to be sure, but clearly Emma's skill was...lacking.  The power was raw, unrefined, much like the Monk herself, and Regina drew breath as the second wave passed.  "St...stop..." she wheezed, pushing away.  
  
    "You're shot..."  
  
    Regina slumped.  It didn't hurt as much and it felt like her skin, at least, was all together.  She drew a ragged breath and pressed her own palm to the half-healed mess, releasing a finer, more controlled flow of magic.  It tickled rather than burned and she could breath easier in moments, her strength returning.    
  
    Emma chose that moment to pick up the arrow she'd removed and stroke the fletching clean.  
  
    " _You shot me?!_ "  
  
    Emma flinched back at the vitriol in her companion's voice and did so again as Regina gained her feet.  "Now, Regina, you know I didn't mea--"  
  
    "You _shot_ _me_ , you moron!" she raged, embers dusting the leather curiass guarding Emma's chest when she shoved the Monk.  "You destroy my summons and shoot me all while daring to tell me I'll be _safe_ with you?!  I know you've only got a rock and a prayer in that thick skull of yours but even _you_ can tell the difference between me and a _GOBLIN_!"  
  
    The arrow almost snapped in Emma's grip.  "I wouldn't be so sure, _your majesty_.  All that fine upbringing and they still couldn't get you to say thank you when someone saves your life!"  
  
    Regina laughed but it was more tired than scornful.  "I'll remember that the next time you _save my life_." she mocked the phrase. "Though who knows where the next arrow will land?"  
  
    Emma resolved then and there to shoot her companion in every damned major joint but would have to save her target practice for another fight.  "S'bout the size of a raiding party."  She nudged at a corpse, cocking a brow at the scarred tattoo.  "Don't know the tribe but they were ready for bear."  
  
    "And decided to stop for a horse, a woman, and you?"  
  
    "You do _reek_ of royalty, majesty." Emma volleyed.  "They could probably smell you a mile off."  
  
    Sparks danced at Regina's fingertips.  She had yet to forgive Emma for that lovely tour of Fort Ash.  
  
    "Since you're up, we should get moving."  
  
    "It's still dark out!"  
  
    "Actually the sun came up about half an hour ago.  These clouds are buggers about it, though."  
  
    Regina squeezed water from her braid, holding back an annoyed reaction when the rope of it swung all the way back around and smacked her jaw.  "We need to find Mirabelle first."  
  
    "Thought I saw her run South.  Probably waiting on the roadside."  
  
    Emma quietly declared her bear-fur and blanket a lost cause, trampled into the mud as they were, and slung her rucksack over a shoulder, following the trail Regina was cutting.  They only had to walk for about ten minutes before spying Mirabelle's white patches in the distance.  After inspecting the beast and ensuring she was unharmed, Regina tore Emma's rucksack away from her and fed the now-calm mare a few leeks and carrots.  Mirabelle tried to nose her way into the rest of the food and Regina actually _laughed_.  
  
    It made the high-strung, prickly woman much softer, to Emma's surprise.  She smiled when her bag was all but thrown back at her.  "Ready?"  
  
    Mirabelle shook herself nose to tail, splattering Emma in the process.  Regina grinned and scratched the mare's long face.  "I think we're ready, hm?"  
  
    Emma waited until Regina was mounted up and turned in the appropriate direction, stopping her with a hand on her boot.  "We should take it slower in the rain.  Cyrodil's rain is unforgiving and all sorts of creeps can get a lot closer before attacking."  
  
    Regina smirked, raising a dark brow.  "Concerned for my safety, Miss Swan?"  
  
    Emma made a face and reclaimed her hand.  "In that you'll attract everything from here to Skyrim otherwise?  Absolutely, your majesty."  
  
    Before Regina could retort, Emma gave in to temptation and slapped Mirabelle's flank, spurring the horse into a sharp, jerky sprint.  When Regina managed to reign Mirabelle, some ten meters away, her insults were muted by the rain and Emma just grinned.


	3. The Itch

    The rain kept on for several more hours, accompanying them through the turn South at Fort Nikel, where Emma demanded a stop, yet told Regina to stay in the saddle.  Preturbed and more than a little bemused, Regina waited less than five minutes before Emma reappeared, clutching a handful of morning glories and another handful of scraggly, dirty roots.  The bouquet was fragrant, even more so when pushed into Regina's hands.  
  
    "Hold these."  
  
    Regina felt the shells of her ears warming up and breathed in the near-cloying scent, drawing the petals closer to her face.  She startled when Emma reappeared at her side, a hand held out in expectation.  "They're lovely..." she replied, uncertain.  
  
    "They are at that." Emma chuckled, stealing a bloom or two and weaving them into Mirabelle's sopping mane.  "I thought Mirabelle could use something nice after that rude wake up call this morning.  The roots have rejuvenating properties."  
  
    Regina stiffened and her expression froze over when she shoved the flowers at the Monk.  "If you would ride with me, our journey's time could be cut in half."  
  
    "You're in an awful hurry."  
  
    Her brow knit in annoyance, all the more when a morning glory blossom was twirled into her view.  The rain battered its petals however the flower seemed immune to the deluge.  Regina's eyes tracked down the hand and arm holding the pretty little thing up to find Emma not looking at her.  The Monk puffed out a breath and muttered, "Sorry...y'know...for shooting you..."  
  
    Dark eyes rolled and Regina snatched the blossom, twisting it into Mirabelle's mane.  "You're an idiot."  
  
    Emma grunted, knit her fingers into her curiass, and began to move down the road.  
  
    They passed two sets of ruins and though Emma's head twisted to view them, she did not stray from the road.  It was almost commendable enough for Regina to remark upon.  
  
    "Shit."  
  
    "What is...?"  
  
    Regina's question trailed off with the rain; the downpour stopping as suddenly as it started to make perfectly clear the Spriggan standing in the middle of the road.  Emma, already crouched and quietly waiting, blended in far better than the Sorceress layered in gleaming plate armor and saddled on a be-flowered paint horse.  Eyes burning with spiritual fire, the Spriggan blinked and began to calmly _walk_ towards them.  
  
    Emma almost swallowed her tongue.  "Back up."  
  
    But Regina was sliding from the saddle.  
  
    "Are you insane?!"  
  
    Fire sparked to life in her palms and Regina grinned as her foe laughed.  A massive black bear appeared at the side of the Spriggan and Emma grit her teeth, throwing herself into her part of the fight.  
  
    They worked together well enough that the Spriggan was forced to refresh her health and consider fleeing, especially when Emma leveled her summoned companion.  In fact, she was about to do just that when a Legionnaire cut across the road, flopping from her horse as she rode through a Wisp.  Silence filled the forest for all of a blink when, without glance or agreement, the humanoids changed tactics and targets.  Emma scuttled under Regina's redirected fireballs and rammed full-on into the Spriggan.  
  
    Regina kept her steps light, never settling in one place for more than a few seconds as the Wisp tried to close in on her.  Not even the thickest armor would save her from the life-sucking touch of a Wisp!  The little demon was lithe, though, dancing in and out of view so Regina's summoned pets had nothing to aim at.  She was beginning to sweat and itch under her still-drying armor and her Scamp all but tripped her in his eagerness to destroy.  
  
    The Wisp vanished again and when a cry of agony sounded, ice ran through Regina's blood.  She knew exactly where it had reappeared.  
  
    Unable to land a touch on Regina for all her movement, it switched to Emma, who was having a hard time getting her Spriggan to lay dead!  The Sorceress grit her teeth and stormed over, pushing healing magics into Emma as an after thought while pressing her free hand directly into the Wisp.  It greedily consumed her lifeforce but Regina ground her teeth and smiled at the hungry spirit.  In her mind she clutched the threads that made its existence and she began to draw the magics into herself; unraveling the Wisp's life from the inside out and using it to bolster her own.  She released a breathy cough of laughter as her energy was restored, her spirit gaining power until the Wisp was nothing more than a pile of dust in the grass.  
  
    Its energy tickled all over her skin and she rolled her shoulders to dispense the feeling.  She couldn't dwell on the sparks of new power - it would fade, and that was fine.  
  
    Right.  
  
    "Oh...yuck..."  
  
    Regina turned at the childish sound, watching Emma wipe her knuckles off in the grass.  The leather gauntlets were stained a deep green and a glance at the lifeless Spriggan proved why.  "Do you enjoy crushing heads?"  
  
    "I was running out of options while you were having your own personal shiver-festival over there, your majesty!"  
  
    She refused to blush.  "Draining life can be taxing!"  
  
    There was muttering that sounded suspiciously like Emma mocking her words.  
  
    "I can't understand you if insist on speaking like an Orc, dear."  
  
    "Go check the damned guard's body!" Emma snapped.  "At least her armor isn't a gods-forsaken _beacon_ to every creature in ten miles!"  
  
    Ignoring anything else the princess might have to say, Emma returned to the Spriggan's body, sighing with a mighty frown.  "Kynareth forgive me..."  
  
    A few wet, ripped, crunched moments later, she boasted a taproot and dropped it into her rucksack without further thought.  
  
  
  
    It was with great reluctance, and no small about of sarcastic teasing, that Emma took to the orphaned Bay's saddle.  She tied on the Legionnaire's body first, now dressed in Regina's steel regalia.  When the princess had protested, Emma snarked that the guards would not take kindly to a dead Watchman, let alone one that was naked - her armor clearly guarding another now.  Fair was fair.  
  
    Skingrad was a much shorter trip by canter and they rode into town just a few minutes shy of close-of-business.  Once the Bay was reclaimed and Mirabelle boarded, Emma didn't allow Regina five minutes to browse the shops.  "C'mon!" she nabbed the Sorceress by the wrist, dragging her along until Regina had the sense to pull herself free.  
  
    "I don't need to be pulled along like a child!"  The whine in her voice and Emma's cocked brow served better than any retort and Regina just glared.  "Where are we going?"  
  
    "If we hurry," green eyes rolled, "we can get a bath before anyone else settles their dinners!"  
  
    Regina's eyes widened ever so and she pushed at Emma's shoulders.  "Well, go then!"  
  
    In such a rush, Regina didn't see the sword-marked red banners decorating the building they entered.  It wasn't until she almost tripped over a large bearskin rug that she even stopped to think, and then gawked.  "Miss Swan, I can't believe you dragged me into this--"  
  
    "Ah, Silien!" Emma loudly greeted the Porter that descended the stairs, strolling up and giving him a firm slap on the back.  "It's been too long, old friend!  Are the baths prepared?"  
  
    His jaw worked in silence for a minute before he gave a single, resentful nod and skulked off.  
  
    "Perfect!" Emma's grin became a little nervous at the explosion of temper she knew to be coming.  "This way, your majesty."  
  
    "Hold on, there.  Who is this?"  
  
    Scratch that.  Emma's grin collapsed into an eye-rolled grimace.  "She's with me, Silien."  
  
    "Haven't heard of any new members." he gave a critical once-over of the Legion-armored Sorceress.  "You know the rules.  She ain't in, she can't stay."  
  
    "Seriously?  She's about ten pounds soaking wet and angry, not some slippery Thieves Guild trick!  She won't clean the place out, alright?"  
  
    "You know the rules, Swordsman."  
  
    "We just need a bath and a nap, you pompous ass!"  
  
    "If you can bring me a letter of recommendation for her, I can--"  
  
    The door slamming in his face cut off the last of his words.  Emma fumed, releasing Regina's elbow only when the Sorceress attempted to rip it away.  She sighed a heavy breath and hunched her shoulders when Regina cocked a brow.  "Fine.  Let's try the magical cesspool instead."  
  
    Regina cuffed the back of companion's head.  "It's not a cesspool."  
  
    "It's itchy."  
  
    "How old are you, dear?"  
  
    "You hit like a child."  
  
    "Really, now.  What is your issue with the Mages Guild?"  
  
    They entered the portal to the magical sanctuary and Emma sneezed.  "I don't like magic."  
  
    Regina blinked, brows up.  "Why did you join, then?"  
  
    A sheepish grin parted Emma's lips.  "I needed a free place to sleep?"  
  
    Her jaw clenched, but relaxed through force of will while she looked the Monk up and down.  "You have to have some magical aptitude.  They don't let just _any_ beggar in."  
  
    Never mind the slight, Emma displayed her palms.  "I can throw a fireball."  
  
    "Any child can do that with enough focus."  
  
    Her palms were wrapped in fists and brought to her sides.  "I can open a few locks."  
  
    "With enough lockpicks, so can anyone."  
  
    "Hey, I _healed_ you, your majesty!"  
  
    "Like a barbaric Nord ten days drunk."  
  
    "Damn it, did you bring me here just to insult me?!"  
  
    "You followed me in, dear, don't forget."  Regina preened for a minute, speaking up when Emma looked ready to strike her.  "You can heal, but it is clear no one has ever shown you how to heal.  Your skill is unrefined to the point of pain."  
  
    "They don't teach magic to Monks."  
  
    "I suppose they wouldn't." she allowed, drawing in a slow breath.  The latent threads of magic in the air, castoffs from whatever work was performed that day, tickled into her bloodstream and Regina had the unnerving notion that if she were barefoot, she could absorb every last drop of it; leaving the Guild barren.    
  
    "Do they have baths in this hall?"  
  
    Regina shook her head.  "No.  Stop sulking."  
  
    Emma glared with the clear projection that she was ready to stomp on Regina.  
  
    "No baths but we can still get hot water.  Come along."  
  
    Emma slouched after her, scowling at those they passed until they reached the third floor.  Once there, she was dismayed to find that the only room left contained a single bed.  Granted, the floor of a guild trumped the outdoors most of the time but still!  "Is there someone here that cleans armor?"  
  
    "It's a Guild full of Mages, dear.  They tend to wear robes and avoid mud puddles."  
  
    "Stupid mages..." she groused, tugging her curiass off with sharp jerks.  It dropped into the same corner as her boots before the huntsman's leather leggings joined the pile.  Left with only a coarse linen shirt, thankfully long enough to cover the important bits, Emma shuffled in place and waited.  Regina had grown adept at removing her armor but it still took longer than the slip of a few leather cords.  "Need help?"  
  
    "No."  
  
    So firmly shot down, Emma began to fidget.  She sat on the edge of the bed, then toyed with the frayed hems of her shirt, then stretched her back, stood up once more, crossed to the opposite wall, picked at her shirt some more...  
  
    "Would you be _still_?!"  
  
    Emma jumped, grabbing fistfuls of her shirt.  "Aren't you done already?"  
  
    Her silk shirt ruined by sweat and rain, Regina grimaced at the now-unpleasant texture as she leaned down to loosen her boots and greaves.  "You're such a child.  How in Oblivion did you manage to stay entertained all night watching me sleep but can't wait ten minutes for a bath?"  
  
    "I went through my exercises, of course." she huffed.  
  
    "Of course."  
  
    Derision dripped off of her voice but Emma continued on.  "It's been a while since I stayed at a temple and I like to practice should I ever happen upon a band of fellow Monks."  
  
    The greaves sloughed off her legs, exposing the swathe of silk cover, red and just as worn as the shirt above it.  Regina stepped out of the loosened boots and tossed open the nearby cupboard, elated to find a few things were available to take.  She tutted through some options and threw a pile of green at Emma.  "Try this on."  
  
    Emma caught the bundle and frowned mightily as she unfurled it.  "Absolutely not."  
  
    Regina glanced over her shoulder, doing a double-take with a smirk.  "A dress is just like a robe."  
  
    "I'd rather run around naked, thank you very much."  
  
    "Such a child."  
  
    The bundle of green smacked Regina square in the back.  "Are you going to conjure up a bath or not, your majesty?"  
  
    "How apt." she mumbled, abandoning the cupboard for the moment.  As predicted, she found a bowl, pitcher, and accoutrements ready for use tucked in the dresser and set them out.  A few minutes of focus, blessedly quiet, and Regina smiled while a globe of water steadily swelled in her hands.  She concentrated and the globe warped, narrowing until it could slide into the pitcher, where she released her control of it.  Emma reached for the pitcher but she slapped her hand away.  "Patience."  
  
    Emma rolled her eyes.  
  
    Regina thought better of burning the Monk's toes, just a light singe, and instead directed her attentions to the water.  It was the easier trial, she imagined.  She summoned up fire, but just the heat of it, not the flames.  With that thought in mind, it wasn't long until the water before her steamed and bubbled ever so.  She breathed a soft sigh of relief and turned to Emma, whose expression snapped back to neutral a moment too late.  She'd been amazed and Regina smiled, raising her chin ever so.  "There you are.  I think you should have the first go, however.  I wouldn't want them to kick us out because you killed someone unintentionally."  
  
    "Oh it would be very intentional, highness." she vowed, yanking the hem of her shirt up.  Emma smirked when the Sorceress flushed ever-so and looked away but focused more on the water - it turned her hands red at the first touch.  "So...do you always get drunk and kiss people you've just sent to jail?"  
  
    Regina was pointedly not looking at her.  "I did no such thing."  
  
    Emma chuckled, able to feel the grime sliding off her neck.  "Yeah...and your helm didn't almost break my cheek either.  I'm surprised it didn't bruise but I do heal up quick.  You seemed really, really interested in the details of the Fish."  
  
    "The Fish?"  
  
    She scrubbed her face to have a moment and a chance to wipe away the evil grin tugging at her lips.  "One of the twelve moves I have yet to describe to you?  You asked me if there was a lot of wiggling involved."  
  
    Regina flushed almost as crimson as her ruined silk clothes and Emma cut her a break, letting the silence drag as she worked on feeling human-ish again.  When the water cooled, the Monk thanked Regina and took her leave of the room, on the hunt for better clothing.    
  
    By the time she returned, victorious, Regina was washed and changed into a deep blue velvet dress.  She was also stretched out on the single bed and Emma sighed.  Perhaps she'd pushed the princess too far but damn if it didn't feel good to get one over her majesty's high head!  Resigned to her fate, the Monk settled to the floor, half-hunched towards her knees, and tried to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struck level 10 with my Monk, was running on down to Skingrad, ran into a spriggan, and stopped dead. I was all sneaky-sneak about it but it literally came towards me at a walk, which was freaky as hell! Then it began to run, so I ran, along the road like an idiot, straight into two wisps killing a Legionnaire. I stole his Bay after he died, rode off, and ran into ANOTHER wisp accompanied by a Troll. It was the most stressful trip to Skingrad I've ever had!


	4. Oblivion Calling

    With the sun's rise, Emma was thoroughly unrested, which is why it came as such a shock that Regina was missing, along with her rucksack.  The princess snored like a cave full of Ogres and while Emma was able to tune such noise out, by necessity, she certainly would have known if it had stopped suddenly!  She groaned and stretched out her sore muscles, slouching her way out through the Guild as she'd come in, though she snagged any food within range, stuffing her own rucksack full.  
  
     Outside, Emma scratched at her arms, no longer feeling the magical-itching, and yawned in the cool shadows.  Leaning against the stone Guildhall, she contemplated her options.  If she'd actually frightened the little Royal off with a bit of banter, Emma was certainly better off without her.  On the other hand, she was just starting to control her impulses to smash every and any summoned creature Regina had brought to life.  On yet another hand, perhaps a foot, she had a lost boy to find, drag from one priory to another and then, then she would be free to ignore everything and go back home.  
  
    Option three had some definite appeal.  
  
    Emma closed her eyes for a minute, easily dropping into her favorite meditation.  Her mind called up the image of a village, of strangers and oddities and peace surrounded by marshy rice and leek farms.  Warm days and humid nights sorted through her mind as did swimming lessons, fencing, playful fighting.  Emma's brow wrinkled when she spied something odd in her vision.  Just on the fringes a figure wobbled, indistinct like the waves of heat off hot stones.  Emma squinted, shielding her eyes against a fresh wave of light, frowning when she realized it was Regina in her meditation.  The Sorceress looked into the distance, a sad expression pulling at her features.  The gentle warmth of daylight intensified, forcing a sweat on Emma's skin.  
  
    Troubled, the Monk forced her eyes open, coming up from her trance sharply enough that she was disoriented for a few moments, staring at the tall stone walls as though they were foreign creatures.  
  
    So much for option three.  
  
    "Standing has to be better on your back."  
  
    Emma's head turned sharply to the right, where Regina was approaching.  The Sorceress seemed in good spirits and lacked any of the exhaustion Emma felt.  "Morning." she grunted.  
  
    "If you hadn't wandered off, I was going to give you the bed."  
  
    Ah-huh.  Emma snorted and left the wall, thumbs hooked in her newly-acquired leather greaves.  They weren't as comfortable as her previous set but neither were they as...breezy as the huntsman's leggings.  Surely a hall full of mages that wore robes and avoided mud puddles had little use for such greaves.  "I thought for sure you had wandered off.  Does this mean you're staying with me?"  
  
    Her retort cut off, Regina sighed tersely, a hand settling on her hip.  "I had to see an Elf about a Nirnroot."  
  
    Blonde brows edged up and Emma smirked.  "Now I think I've heard them all."  
  
    "Literally, you idiot." she hissed.  "He thinks he's onto something big but is apparently too busy to leave his basement."  
  
    "Lair."  
  
    "What?"  
  
    "I believe when it has candles and skulls or weird books and creepy things, it's called a lair."  
  
    Regina rolled her eyes.  "There were books, plants, and wine so unless his threadbare blanket is enchanted with something _creepy_ ," she stressed her mocking, "I think I'll stick with the term 'basement'."  
  
    Emma shrugged, deliberately agitating the Sorceress by casting the brief disagreement aside.  "Did you eat breakfast yet?"  
  
    "No.  For some famous nutter, he certainly is stingy with his things."  
  
    "But he's not creepy at all."  
  
    "Shut up, Emma."  
  
    Compliments of Emma's quick hands, and the Mages Guild's dumb generosity, they had breakfast on the move, including two sweetrolls that managed to avoid picking up the taste of the onions they were pressed against.  Emma's vision lingered in the back of her mind through the walk and the stables, but was pushed aside by the open air and a new argument.  
  
    "You rode a Bay...and with some competence."  
  
    "Thanks." was the dry retort.  "Any other backhanded compliments before we get on the road?"  
  
    "Did you fall off a horse when you were little?"  
  
    "Well, no but..."  
  
    "Has a horse ever bitten you?"  
  
    Emma glowered.  
  
    "I don't see any reason why you are so afraid, especially of Mirabelle!"  
  
    "Hey!  I am not _afraid_ of horses, _princess_!"  
  
    They had a stare-down with no hope of a victor but Emma broke the tableau by brushing Mirabelle down some more.  Regina closed her eyes for a moment, summoning up what patience she could grasp.  "What is it, then?"  
  
    Emma loosed a short cough of laughter, patting Mirabelle's neck.  "We just get on better when my feet are on the ground with theirs.  It's nothing personal.  I prefer to walk."  
  
    "Even though it takes three times as long?"  
  
    "I always prepare for long journeys."  
  
    "Of course you do."  
  
    "Why don't you want to ride her?  You two have been inseparable."  
  
    Regina glanced away, picking out the dying morning glories from Mirabelle's mane.  "I think she needs to walk on her own for a bit."  
  
    Emma blinked, a thought neatly clocking her brain.  "You're saddle-sore."  
  
    Regina nabbed the groom's brush from the Monk, setting it back where she'd retrieved it.  
  
    "Huh."  
  
    Emma received a threatening glare.  
  
    "I just...you're royalty.  I figured you've ridden horses since you were small."  
  
    "I have been...my horse was...he..."  Her throat swelled and cut off the words so Regina swallowed them down and chose a new set.  "I can't afford a Cyrodil horse so it's been a few months."  
  
    "What do they say?  Back in the sad--"  
  
    Emma wheezed when her rucksack was forcibly injected into her gut.  She groaned, setting the bag down and laughing weakly through her pain.  
  
      
  
      
    Cyrodil was surprisingly tame on their way out of Skingrad.  
  
    Other than the usual assortment of wildlife intent on making them into meals, they suffered no bandits, no Spriggans, not a single Troll.  By far and away, the Skeleton that stumbled onto the road was their most exciting kill.  
  
    "I would've brought books if I knew it was going to be this easy."  
  
    "If they had words to go with all the pictures, I would agree."  
  
    Emma snorted, getting Regina to glance back.  "Really?  That's the best shot you've got?"  
  
    Dark eyes lighting with challenge, Regina grinned at her.  Emma barely caught the words, so caught by the openness of her companion's face.  "If you have another sweetroll, I could think of something better."  
  
    She offered a lop-sided smile and drew Mirabelle to a halt, pressing a weak little carrot to the mare's lips while she rummaged through her rucksack.  "I'm sure I've got _something_ to spice your tongue."  
  
    "Ah, Divines preserve me, the Orc is flirting."  
  
    Regina moved closer as she spoke and Emma felt her face warming up.  "I didn't mean it like that..." she grumbled.  
  
    The Sorceress chuckled, deep and soft.  "Of course not.  What ever was I thinking?"  
  
    "You can be bought with sweetrolls, princess.  All your thoughts are now suspect."  
  
    For the first time, the nickname gave her no prickles of irritation.  It was used without malice, if not in affection.  "Well given that you've struck the bottom of your bag twice now, I'd say you'll have to live with what I give you."  
  
    Emma slapped the rucksack closed, tugging her gauntlets tight.  "What in Oblivion are you doing out here, Regina?"  
  
    "Going to retrieve a priest, it seems."  
  
    "No, no..." she sighed and ran her hands through her hair.  "What ran you out of your comfortable life to rough it in the wilds of Cyrodil with a half-assed Monk?  How about you tell me that and we'll call this good?  You can take Mirabelle and ride down South.  There's good people there who can hide you forever if you want."  
  
    Regina turned and resumed their trek to Kvatch.  Emma held her temper with an iron fist and bade her time as best she might.  Mirabelle's neck received a thorough rub-down, pressing twenty minutes before Regina spoke up.  
  
    "My family left High Rock after the last war.  We began to carve out a living in Skyrim and I faced a choice.  I saw two paths in the future and took the road of lesser evil."  
  
    Emma was quiet for several minutes more, letting it sink in, trying to read what wasn't spelled out.  "That other road must be a bitch."  
  
    Regina laughed unexpectedly, even to herself.  She pressed her fingers to her lips and dared to smile at the Monk.  "You might say that."  
  
    "And you might give me all your coin, or the filly dies."  
  
    Walking backwards as she had been, just for a moment, Regina moved straight into the arms of a bandit, his invisibility falling away to show a knife at Regina's throat.  Emma froze and delivered a glare of such venom that stronger men had run off pissing themselves.  "I wouldn't do that."  
  
    "The gold!" the Khajit snarled, fangs flashing.  
  
    Emma's stern look faded as she realized Regina was perfectly calm - bored, even.  Her eyes darted around quickly and she bit her lower lip, setting a hand to her coinpurse but turning away to keep from laughing. Not ten seconds later there was a soft ' **foomph** ' followed by a yowl and the smells of burning fur and leather.  The Khajit flopped to the ground, still howling as he cradled his groin and curled in on himself.  
  
    Regina calmly flicked her flame-coated hand as though there were mud on it.  The fire sputtered and died and she waggled her fingers.  "Of course, this road isn't exactly bitch-free."  
  
    Emma lost it.  
  
  
      
    In a show of pure derision, they adopted the highwayman's campsite as a place to stop and take in a quick break.  Mirabelle at last got her nose into Emma's rucksack and the Monk faltered when she realized she was giving a horse the third-degree.  By the time they left the campsite, the bandit had managed to roll-crawl his way there and Emma tossed him a healing potion and a look of scornful pity.  
  
    As morons never learn, she kept an eye out to ensure he wasn't following them in some doomed-to-fail attempt at revenge but after an hour, she felt fairly secure.  
  
    With the road being so quiet, they decided to press on when night fell.  Secunda gave them soft light to see by while Emma's unnatural ability to see in the dark filled in the rest.  "Damn, we are making really good time." she noted, spying Masser just cresting over the horizon as they approached the base of the switchbacks leading up to Kvatch.  
  
    "It's been mostly downhill.  The road back will probably be longer."  
  
    "That's it, think positive."  
  
    "Alright.  I'm _positive_ the road back will be longer."  
  
    Emma rolled her eyes.  
  
    Regina puffed out a sigh, looking up the switchbacks and already feeling everything below her ribs protesting.  She attempted to console herself with the thought of the walk down but when that failed, she remembered that Emma was powering ahead on only few hours of sleep in the last few days.  Perhaps she was fueld by banter?  Regina took hold of Mirabelle's reigns and began the trek.  
  
    The mare grunted uneasily the entire trip and about reared onto Regina when a nervous Dunmer ran up to them, pale and panicked.  "Get out of here!  Go back the way you came while you still can!"  
  
    Emma slapped a palm in the center of his chest, stopping him before he could grab Regina.  By the faint flush of her pale ears, Emma realized her error but Regina just smiled to herself.  "Whoa, hold on now.  What's happened?"  
  
    Lightning cracked overhead, unnatural and red.  It washed away the sight of the two moons and left trails of red scarring the sky.  Regina shivered.  
  
    "They're here!" he wailed.  "The Gate is open and Tamriel is doomed!"  
  
    With that, he hurried on and left two very apprehensive women behind.  Mirabelle nudged her face under Regina's arm, seeking what comforts she could in what was rapidly devolving into chaos.  Emma swallowed and nodded ahead.  "Well, let's grab the priest and go."  
  
    Magic swelled in the air, pervasive and oily and its signature was oh-so familiar to Regina, who rejected it without hesitation.  Divines help her, she was not going to delve into _that_ magic again!  They walked through a shanty-town of sorts and while there was a priest there, he was not Brother Martin.  He directed them up another switchback, up to the top where the rainless storm raged, and muttered prayers after them.  
  
    "Everyone is _so_ cheerful."  
  
    Regina backhanded Emma's arm.  
  
    They came to the last ramp and each step was through a mire of doubts, fears, and abject terror.  Heart in her throat, Regina no longer felt any pain from her body; only the constant thrum of her blood as it tried to call out to an old friend, an old enemy.  A blockade came into view, Kvatch curiasses and gleaming steel weapons on the front, and in the midst was a man of shorn hair barking orders like their lives depended on it.  
  
    Mercy of the Divines!  Heat rolled in near-visible waves, buffeting Emma's left side and though she knew, though it screamed at her, she did not look.  She didn't want to see what she knew to be there, what would drag her even further from home.  Regina walked with her, step for step, Mirabelle left at the last bend, and Emma focused on her.  As though in one of her meditations, she heard herself speak but surely his replies were all wrong.  However Regina looked up at her, an old fear deep in her eyes, and the haze melted around her.  
  
    Brother Martin was trapped in the city.  
  
    The city was trapped behind an Oblivion Gate - something that never should have existed in Tamriel!  
  
    The gate needed to be closed.  Emma breathed in the hot air and felt it singe her lungs.  
  
    "We have to close the Gate."  
  
    Emma snapped from her reverie.  "What?"  
  
    Regina repeated herself, numb in voice.  "We have to close the Gate."  
  
    Something shattered in her and Emma turned heel, drawing Regina from thought as though attached by a string.  
  
    "Wait...where are you going?"  
  
    "Home.  This whole damn mission is wrecked."  
  
    "Emma, Martin is in there!  We have to get him out!"  
  
    Emma wheeled, glaring at Regina and thrusting an arm towards the portal of promised suffering.  "No way in...in _Oblivion_ can anyone save them now!  You heard him, he already sent men in there and none have come out!"  
  
    "You're just going to run?!"  
  
    "Damn straight!" she drops her arm, frustrated and fearful.  "I didn't ask for this!  I'm no hero!"  
  
    Regina's expression twisted as if to hide something.  "Then run, coward!  Tuck your tail and leave me!"  
  
    Emma grabbed her, spinning her around and getting her hand slapped away for the trouble.  "Whoa, you're not seriously going _in_ that thing?!"  
  
    She smiled, a bare twitch of her lips.  "This is one way to repay a debt."  
  
    "Oh, _HA_ - _HA_ , you're funny, princess!"  
  
    But Regina turned and headed for the Gate once more.  Scamps burst from the fire and the warriors of Kvatch rushed forward to engage.  Emma chased and twisted Regina around again, holding her by the arms this time and shouting to be heard over the roar of the Gate.  "Forget the damn debt, Regina!  This is _suicide_!"  
  
    Regina smiled again, a real smile.  She wore a brave face no matter what foundations were shaking within her and Emma hated and applauded it.  "Then come with me.  Emma keep me safe, like you promised.  We can end this here and now, all we need is Martin."  
  
    Emma's life flew around her head, the timeline broken and scattered.  It weighted on her heart but Regina spoke true.  If they were to end it there, Emma wouldn't have to fear for her family, wouldn't have to keep going on this stupid hero's journey to entertain the Divines!  She grimaced, looked to the Gate, looked back to Regina.  There was something desperate about the Sorceress.  Calm as she appeared, there was a feral look in her eye, a need to engage this great maw and break it irrevocably.    
  
    "When we make it out of this, I'm going to hit you every damn time you call me an Orc."  
  
    Regina tilted her head in agreement, stepping into her past and praying for the future.


	5. Lost and Found

_How do we close this Gate?_   
  
_How should I know?!  Stop killing my Scamps!_   
  
_They look just like the ones trying to kill **us**!_

  
    Oblivion was hot.  
  
    In of itself, that came as little surprise when Emma had forged through the unholy portal.  Lava, evil creatures attempting to kill them, these things were expected.  However she did not expect everything so be so...soft.  Oblivion was a realm of hard truths, suffering, and the pointy, flesh-rending sort of things that awaited the dishonorable.  Emma was therefore surprised to find that while the jagged bits were indeed steel-hard, the ground and walls were...moist.  On what looked like packed earth, her boots left impressions and dead Scamps seemed to sink into the surface.  
  
    When they took a break, on a solid surface that was Emma-approved, the Monk watched as a nearby corpse was ever-so-slowly absorbed into the ground as though it were a living thing consuming a meal.  After that, she vowed to never again complain when working the rice marshes.  
  
    Then the imprisoned Goneld and the key and why were the Dremora so damn big?!  Next came the Sigil Stone.  Emma had joked that it was the highest room of the tallest tower so it must be what they needed.  Regina had rolled her eyes and reached into the ball of shadows, pulling her hand out as though through cold honey.  The stone she claimed nearly fell from her grasp when flames burst from the stand, rocketing upwards through the ceiling and into the red sky.  The world began to rock and tremble violently and Emma reached out to steady Regina, only to end up with armfuls of Sorceress.  
  
    Silence in the aftermath had been alarming and the rain that began to pelt them drew Regina's face from hiding against Emma's shoulder.  Emma had looked around, breathing a laugh.  "We...we did it!"  
  
    Regina had shoved away from her with haste, tugging fretfully at her armor, and the retaking of Castle Kvatch began.  
  
    The Sorceress had yet to look Emma in the eye.  They were two days away from Kvatch and the Monk was getting irritated.  Martin was a fine conversationalist, if a little doom-and-gloom like his erstwhile father, but he was not a Monk like Emma and the dividing lines between their orders were sharp and caustic.  
  
    It took a day and a third of the night to reach Kvatch but a full two days, even with Martin riding Mirabelle, to return to Skingrad.  The first night, Emma had collapsed into a deep, healing sleep that even the revelry of survivors, wildly boisterous as though to make up for lost time, could not disturb.  Night two, she held a stubborn watch all evening, glowering at Regina's standoffishness.  
  
    Mid-afternoon of the third day, safely nestled in Skingrad's high, thick walls, Emma brushed mead suds from her lips and flicked the bottle backwards with her fingertips.  It slid into the casually-practiced grip of her Orc bartender...she frowned, unable to recall the name.  Why did Orcs have to have four and twelve names instead of one?  Always 'Something-Go-Blah' but never a simple 'Julian' or 'Mary'.  
  
    She rapped her knuckles on the smooth hardwood, contemplating before giving a nod.  Another bottle was settled in front of her and uncorked.  Regina seemed intent on babysitting the priest and he was apparently interested in her Nirnroot blather so Emma had taken the chance to escape.  Now, though, she wondered if it had been the wisest course.  
  
    Even that morning, three days out from Kvatch, Regina wouldn't look at her except in glances and Emma was completely baffled and frustrated.  What in Oblivion had she done now?  Or hadn't done?  
  
    "Dammit..." she seethed softly, getting a glance from the Dunmer drinking near her.  Nothing was said, however, and Emma twisted the bottle around.  Skingrad was a city of gold and the Two Sisters was the cheapest watering hole she could find.  It served her purpose and ensured that Regina wouldn't go poking her head in, seeing as it was at the 'lower' end of town.  Emma imagined she might even stay a night at the inn, provided the alchemical discussions went on into the night, and Regina could park her ass on the floor of the damned itchy Guildhall while Martin claimed the bed.  
  
    Yeah.  
  
    Her mead was swiped before she could take the first swig.  Emma turned, a fist at the ready, but startled when she watched Martin settle onto the stool next to her.  He took a deep pull before setting the bottle down and offering a half-smile to Emma.  "That's not bad."  
  
    Emma relaxed, though how he had crossed town and escape Regina was a mystery to be solved soon.  She signaled to Gro-blah-blah and another mead was dropped without pause.  A swig was taken before the bottle could be stolen.  "Thought you boys were a 'no alcohol' bunch of tight-shorts."  
  
    "We are." he grimaced, loosing a quiet burp and trying to hide his embarrassment.  
  
    Emma chuckled and nudged the mead back towards him.  "I won't tell."  He tilted his head and took another swig, the second going down easier.  "What brings you to this end of town, Martin?"  
  
    His smile was boyish.  "I'm afraid my alchemy days are long behind me.  They talked themselves into a discussion far over my head - I figured you couldn't be far."  
  
    She blinked.  "I think that's the nicest way someone has ever called me stupid."  
  
    "That's not what I meant to imply."  
  
    "Ah."  
  
    Martin swallowed through half the mead before picking up the conversation again.  "Your friend is quite taken with you."  
  
    "She's not my friend."  
  
    "Oh?" he frowned in confusion but didn't linger.  "She and a Bosmer had a little chat when he refused to believe you two closed the Gate.  He said some rather rude things about a scruffy dog coming through the gates with her."  
  
    Chat.  Emma snorted but smiled.  "Yeah.  Regina's _all_ about talking."  
  
    "She summoned a Zombie when he reached for a knife and the owner kicked us out."  
  
    "Lovely."  
  
    "She and the Mer went into the Mages Guild but by then I think they had forgotten all about me."  
  
    If this was turning into a pity-party, Emma was having her last mead.  
  
    "I was wondering...what brought you on this adventure, my friend?"  
  
    Emma gave him a sidelong glance before turning to face him, pointing at the space between.  "This is not an adventure, priest.  This is me fulfilling the wishes of a dying man.  You get the necklace, you become..." she ground to a halt, catching herself before exposing their purpose in a bar full of potential enemies.  "And we all live happily ever after."  
  
    "But he gave you the amulet.  A stranger.  One he met in prison, I might add."  
  
    Her jaw clenched at that.  
  
    "Surely there is more at work here than a simple adventure, and it will not do well to write it off so casually, my friend.  Our fates are cast and the Divines wait eagerly to see them played out."  
  
    Emma threw down gold in a careless scatter of coins, huffing as she took to her feet.  "They will have to hold their breaths, then."  
  
    As the Divines have a twisted sense of humor, Emma cracked the door to leave only to have it ripped from her hand and expose Regina, ready to run her down.  Their eyes locked for the first time in days and when Regina immediately looked past Emma, the Monk's anger boiled over.  She shoved Regina back, straight into the street.  
  
    "What brings you to _this_ end of town, princess?!"  
  
    Feeling her shoulders ache from the momentary blow, Regina worked on her balance.  "I'm here for Martin.  He disappeared."  
  
    "Oh, so you figured he'd be at the more common, low-bred end of town, hm?  Slumming down here where your dainty little toes have never tread!"  
  
    Ire prickled in the Sorceress and her eyes snapped to Emma's.  It wasn't about Martin, she could tell that clear as day.  "I have never called you a commoner or demanded you treat me differently!"  She might have thought it once, twice...several times, but she never said it.  "I don't want that."  
  
    "Could'a fooled me." she growled, stalking closer.  "We closed that burning Gate and now her royal highness is too good to even look me in the eye."  A snort.  "Maybe we should part ways after a-."  
  
    Regina's jaw clenched and she cast before actually thinking it through, silencing Emma with little more than a thought.  The Monk blinked in surprise, then bristled when she realized what had happened.  Regina refused to let her advance, though, shoving as she had been shoved, though Emma's balance was significantly better.  "We closed an Oblivion Gate together, Emma!  We did something that the finest guards of the Legion tremble at the thought of and I don't want you treating that as nothing!"  
  
    Emma glowered, feeling the spell's effects weakening.  The somewhat crazed gleam had returned to Regina's eyes, making her just a little bit frightening.  
  
    "There is more at stake than whatever you're running from and now we know we have the power to stop this!"  
  
    The final threads of magica released Emma's throat.  She swallowed.  "There is something you are not telling me."  
  
    Definitely true and most certainly information all too sensitive for a street-brawl.  They had picked up a small crowd and Regina wormed her way through the onlookers, headed for the West Gate.  Emma glanced after her but stared down the crowd until they broke up and resumed the humdrum of their lives.  She went back in, grabbed Martin, and headed North to the Fighters Guild.    
  
    This time she really would clock Silien, consequences be damned.  
  
  
  
    Familiar creaks and groans sent shivers down her spine but Emma realized there was only one reason she'd hear such sounds inside the walls.  She peeked around the corner, into the stable, and sure enough there was a summoned skeleton, an axe resting easy in an otherwise limp hand.  It had no commands and no unfriendlies nearby and stood dumbly with no purpose - for a second she felt sorry for it.    
  
    But just a second.  The way they could move and jump at her without so much as a scrap of tendon ensured Emma lost all sympathy.  She took a deep breath and swung around the corner, thumping her feet down with the intent to be known.  Her skeletal study swung its head towards her but made no move to engage otherwise.  A shiver crawled up her spine when hollow sockets kept sight of her.  
  
    "I don't like the undead because I always fear someone I know will be used in some Mage-battle-royal.  Meridia and I actually had a short, terrifying conversation when I cleaned out a few holed-up Necromancers running around near my village."  Emma smiled in memory, not at all bothered by Regina's lack of response.  "She was the first god to speak to me and the one that convinced me that the priests and holy-folk weren't flying high off their rocks."  
  
    Regina continued combing out Mirabelle's mane, ignoring her company.  
  
    "I think you'd like it there."  She paused as the skeleton faded from existence, waiting for Regina to summon another...thing.  It didn't happen, however, so she continued.  "It can be a little wet at times but we've built up so we're not slogging through water all the time.  We have a tavern and good people that can keep a secret."  
  
    "I'm not hiding."  
  
    Emma's ears perked and she turned heel, coming up on Mirabelle's opposite side to rest her forearms on the mare's back.  Mirabelle snorted but endured the treatment.  "But what would you be hiding from?"  
  
    Regina's dark eyes flashed towards her, all of a blink, but she answered the unasked instead.  "I was worried that if we weren't together, if I held the stone and you didn't, that the Gate would close and you would be trapped."  
  
    A minute of silence settled between them until Emma chuckled.  "Well, that would have solved your problem.  No more Emma, no more getting dragged all over Nirn under the pretense of a debt."  
  
    The Sorceress didn't rise for the bait but tossed out her own.  "There are easier ways to get a date, you know."  
  
    Emma flushed bright red and sputtered.  "W-What?!"  
  
    Feeling a little more on top, Regina looked over Emma's face, though now the Monk couldn't meet her eye.  "I wouldn't leave anyone to that fate unless they deserved it beyond question.  In spite of your brutish, uncouth nature, you don't deserve it...yet."  
  
    "Ah-huh.  I'm sure I'll see you there, princess."  
  
    "I doubt that very much."  
  
    The shells of her ears were still burning as Emma's face cooled down but she felt much more secure in...whatever this was.  They weren't quite friends but no one could say they were enemies.  "So does this mean you're not riding out of town with Martin and my gold tonight?"  
  
    Regina cocked a brow.  
  
    Emma hefted her coinpurse with an all-too-friendly grin.  "I keep a small one in sight at all times.  My other one is missing."  
  
    Now she blushed, faintly, and sighed as she went to Mirabelle's saddle.  She removed a leather bag and threw it straight for Emma's head.  It was a little larger than a fist but caught without issue.  "Habit..." she muttered as an apology.  
  
    "It was a good one." Emma lauded, glancing in the satchel to determine if any more than a few were missing.  "I didn't even realize you'd grabbed it when you shoved me."  
  
    "I bought Mirabelle some oats."  
  
    "Ah, alright."  The satchel was cinched shut with a smirk.  "Like I said, fast fingers...especially since I keep it here."  
  
    Emma tucked the satchel in the middle of her curiass, directly between her breasts and Regina refused to be embarrassed about it.  She'd stolen from more awkward locations.  "I'm not very good at it..."  
  
    "Well, I imagine your parents would have been _thrilled_ beyond sense to teach their royal daughter how to act like a peasant."  
  
    She glared.  "When my initial funds ran out, I was looking at starvation or a more...earthy trade."  Her upper lip twitched.  "A beggar sent me to a meeting.  I learned a few tricks that have come in handy.  No one expects a caster in heavy armor to pick their purse clean."  
  
    "You haven't gotten much practice in, though, clearly." Emma nodded in thought.  "How about you keep trying to steal from me?"  
  
    Regina blinked.  Surely she'd heard that wrong.  "You _want_ me to steal from you?"  
  
    "I want you to try." she grinned the challenge.  "I don't want you stealing from other people so I will be your practice dummy and you can keep whatever I don't notice has gone missing.  If by nightfall, I don't ask for it back, it's yours."  
  
    "You know night is the time of thieves."  
  
    "Exactly.  But I would like to get some restful sleep knowing that you're holding to our deal."  
  
    Fair enough and a better deal than she was likely to get from anyone else.  Emma extended her hand and Regina regarded it much as she had in their first meeting.  However this time she offered her own and gripped the Monk's wrist as hers was, sealing the bargain.  "Very well."  
  
      
  
    Lauded as heroes, even if some doubted them, the trio stayed overnight in Skingrad, utterly unconcerned with time now that the Gate was shut.  They took even more time on the way back, breaking away from the road to explore the ruins that Emma had bravely resisted on the way there and fishing off the shores of Lake Rumera for dinner on night two.  
  
    Heavy with treasure, Regina took Emma up on her offer to be a training dummy however found it much more frustrating than first imagined.  How, on the way down, had she not noticed the Monk's ever-turning head or the way she kept her arms in close and in contact with what she carried?  Perhaps it had simply been opportunity, a spur-of-the-moment idea, that gave success to her first heist.  They weren't exactly friends, no matter how companionable so far, and she knew they would part ways after dropping Martin at the priory.    
  
    Whatever Emma's thoughts on Regina's past, the Sorceress was loath to involve more people in this mess.  The Oblivion Gate had been a single step and Kvatch a mere test of strength.  If she had left Skyrim and followed Regina into Cyrodiil, Divines help them if she brought her court with, Regina could only hope that a single test was enough.  For now.  She could leave and disappear into the woods again with the hope that it was done.  
  
    "God's blood!"  
  
    Martin raced into the orange light of another approaching evening and Emma took long strides to catch up, though her more unique curses floated back to Regina.  She left Mirabelle on the road and hurried towards the sounds of battle.  Daedric armored bodies rushed in for the kill however as they fell their conjured armor melted to exposed blood red robes and Regina's heart sank.  She recognized the militant force all too well.  
  
    Anger powered her through the rest.  Whatever test had been done at Kvatch was clearly not enough but why?  What could possibly be so important that -  
  
    "They've taken the Amulet!"  
  
    Were it possible, her heart sank further while Jauffre's words washed over her in a muddle of incomprehensible sound.  A burst of louder, angry noise exploded at her left.  
  
    "This is asinine!" Emma shoved Martin towards Jauffre, cutting the air with a slice of her hand.  "I kept the key to the Empire safe for _days_ under my damned shirt and you couldn't keep it contained in a priory full of battle-harded Blades?!  Take the bastard son!  I'm done with this!"  
  
    Regina attempted to grab her but Emma shook her off and stormed away.  She made it to the road cobbles before her feet were frozen in place.  It wasn't paralysis, though, and her teeth clenched.  Telekinesis.  "Let go of my feet before I hurt you."  
  
    Careful to stay out of swinging range, Regina came around to face Emma.  She held one palm towards the Monk's ankles, concentrating.  "You're running again."  
  
    "I am _not_ going to be responsible for the fate of these idiots!  If they can't hold onto a necklace, what chance do they have of keeping Martin safe?!"  
  
    "They're going to move him to a stronghold."  
  
    "Kvatch was a stronghold."  
  
    Regina fought a roll of her eyes at the petulance.  "Kvatch was unprepared and they were hit with a wall of Daedric foes.  This temple stronghold is ancient and familiar with our enemy."  
  
    "Not ours.  _You_ go play hero if you want to save them so badly."  
  
    The slap caught Emma by surprise, especially since Regina had not moved.  Her face reddened and she balled her fists but there was no fighting Regina's masterful control.  The Sorceress stared down at her as much as she did up.  "How long do you think it will take for these Gates to start opening across Cyrodiil?  How long until one of them yawns open next to your quaint village and razes it to the ground?"  
  
    "We can move.  We've done it before."  
  
    "But where?"  Regina smiled, all silk.  "Further South into the fetid wastes of Blackmarsh?  Maybe North into Skyrim but you'd have to survive the trek across Cyrodiil first.  Valenwood, perhaps?  They do love company for dinner."  
  
    "Why do you want to help them so much?" Emma glared.  "You owe no allegiance to the Empire, you have nothing here to protect.  So what is this all about for you?"  
  
    Her smile faded but the sound of tack and hoof drew her eyes and feet away.  "We should get going."  
  
    Emma's hand snapped out to grip Regina's left arm.  She didn't look at the Sorceress but leaned close and _growled_.  "If I even begin to suspect you are working with these Daedra worshipers, I will kill you myself.  Reason or no reason."  
  
    She could almost hear the plate and chain groan from the strength of Emma's hold but Regina ripped her arm free and turned towards Mirabelle, who approached with easy, slow steps.  What she wouldn't give to be so calm and carefree!

 

    They rode double on Mirabelle and the mare put up with the abuse like a champ in spite of being the slowest of the herd.  She set the pace, which Emma was fine about as long as they didn't stop.  Emma was already gone from home long enough and if she had to steal, bribe, and magic her way across the land to get back, she would.  She used such thoughts to distract herself from her stomach's displeased rocking.  If she held a little tighter to Regina's waist every time they skirted along a cliff-edge road, the Sorceress made no mention of it.  
  
    In fact, they engaged in very little discussion past riding arrangements.  They would ride through the night as fast as they might not to avoid agents of Daedric cult and not even to ensure that Martin was safe as soon as possible.  No, they rode hard and fast because that was Emma's stipulation to joining 'this entire cluster-fuck'.  One stop was made to water the horses but it was twenty minutes in a night and dawn full of riding.   
  
    When, at last, they began to climb up, up, up to a Temple unlike any other in Cyrodiil, they did so by foot, the horses trailing after them with heavy breathing and sweaty coats that shivered in the cold.    
  
    Emma paused when she realized she was following them with nary a thought.  Ahead two paces, Regina stopped as though sensing her companion's plight.  Dark eyes regarded the Monk over a bloody, dented pauldron, asking questions Emma had only one answer to.  Therefore, she didn't even bother to speak past lifting a shoulder and turning back for the walls of Bruma.  
  
    She counted in steps.  Sixty three paces crossed the ground before Regina and Mirabelle caught up with Emma's slouched walk.  "What happened to your quest?"  
  
    "It's their quest, in the end." she sighed.  "I'm just going to make sure you don't get your half-Orc brain smashed before you reach that precious village of yours."  
  
    Emma snorted and her fist snapped out, slugging Regina's bicep in a neat, steady blow.  She barely felt the tap of the armor on her knuckles but Regina ensured she was familiar with the fire that assaulted her side.  Emma's retort arrived in her elbow.  
  
    Mirabelle pranced away a few paces to nibble on the tundra, eyeing the ridiculous bipeds with exasperation.  
  
    Their fight was brutal but short, neither actually capable of holding back - on some level perhaps realizing the other could stand it.  Emma had to put out her hair twice and Regina was forced to conjure up armor to protect the armor she was wearing.  Telekinesis came to her rescue again, lashing like a rope around Emma's neck.  Yolked, Emma rose up but was immediately dragged down.  In that moment, however, Regina released just enough control that Emma lunged and swept the Sorceress' legs from under her.  The invisible rope returned twice as strong and Emma choked and laughed.  "Cute...trick..."  
  
    "It serves a purpose." Regina gained her feet with a faint whine, her neck protesting.  She scowled at the Monk and released her, watching as Emma took in lungfuls of air.  
  
    Emma continued a deep, full-bodied laugh that spoke of exhaustion and release.  "Princess, we've _got_ to be friends now!"  
  
    "I think not." she dismissed, flicking snow from her hips.  
  
    Emma still chuckled as she shuffled upright, tapping Regina's chin with a bent knuckle.  "You enjoyed that far too much, otherwise.  I saw you smiling."  
  
    And she had been, to her dismay.  Her scowl returned in full force, aided by the superior lilt to her jaw.  "There is nothing wrong in taking pleasure from abusing a brigand!"  
  
    But Emma kept smiling in her own infuriating way.  "S'alright.  I kinda like you, too."  She delivered a sharp slap to Regina's ass and began to run down the road.  "Keep up, princess!  It's a long road!"  
  
    Even Mirabelle skittered away a bit further.   
  
    " _MISS SWAN_!!"  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completed the Knights of the Nine questline on Emma, went to Kvatch, accidentally killed a guard, and now Kynareth won't forgive me! :( And the DB is all about me now to which I'll have to say...Infamy, nooooo! That's what I get for not saving before getting into close-quarters with a good/bad guy mix. 
> 
> Also, Thief!Regina. :D
> 
> Edit - Quick alteration to the end of this chapter as I never dive straight into the main quest. Martin's safe and I'm off and running around like a fool.


	6. Keeps on Kicking

    It took them two weeks to reach the Imperial City, edging around Lake Rumare, not killing one another, and getting swung up in an old man's desperate need for Slaughterfish scales.  Emma, kind soul that she was, went diving over the course of a night and dawn while Regina, prissy-bitch that she could be, remained dry and warm in the Weye Inn.  At least, when Emma returned victorious, she had something to warm the Monk's bones.  
  
    Most certainly it did that however Emma felt kicked in the chest all the same.  "What is that?" she rasped, handing the tiny flask back to Regina.  Cold sweat broke out down the length of her spine.  
  
    Watching the Monk pause, double over, and cough a few times, Regina made a pathetic attempt at modesty.  "A little something I put together while you were swimming."  
  
    "And bleeding." she held up a finger but remained examining the ground.  Emma's guts twisted with indecision, leaving her able to breathe when they decided to settle.  "Fuck..." she laughed, standing upright and taking a deep breath.  Her face was flush, making her ratty blonde hair stand out in stark contrast.  
  
    The vial was snatched away, leaving Regina to watch her foolish companion take another swig.  Even she grimaced as the process started anew.  
  
    "Holy shit..." Emma wheezed, laughing between her coughs.  "That'd kick a Dwemer's metal ass all the way around Nirn!"  
  
    Regina sighed in exasperation.  "You're such a charmer, Emma."  
  
    Apparently recovered twice as fast, Emma stood upright and twisted the violet concoction about in the sunlight.  "Seriously!  What's in it?  Has a brandy taste but I feel great!"  
  
    "There is enough of everything that it needs, which is all you need to know." she stole the vial back, tucking in away in her bag.  In truth, she had no idea what was it precisely - she'd been bored and experimenting.  She was lucky enough to have not killed herself or worse.  
  
    "Touchy, touchy." Green eyes rolled.  "Let's wander the grand old city for today.  Sell off and stock up, that sort of thing.  You can chat with the beggars and I'll swing a few bets at the Arena.  I'm sure between us we can leave a bit richer than we go in."  
  
    "And here I thought you didn't want me stealing anything." Regina scoffed, whistling shrilly.  
  
    Mirabelle came trotting up to them, nudging Regina until the Sorceress provided her with an apple.  "You spoil her."  
  
    "Well someone has to, seeing as her owner is dead."  
  
    Emma inclined her head to agree.  "C'mon.  If Jensine's feeling generous, she might even get us a discounted rate on the Tiber Septim Hotel."  
  
    "I have a place to stay."  
  
    The news piqued Emma's interest, all the more when Regina frowned as if disappointed with herself for mentioning it.  "Oh?  Are you that high up in the Thieves Guild or hiding a fortune from me?"  
  
    "Neither." she grunted.  "I may have...struck a deal with the Office of Commerce."  
  
    Emma edged up on Mirabelle, apparently to check her tack.  "Really?  I didn't think she was into that.  Especially with a Breton."  
  
    The racial slur hit first but the implication followed on its heels and Emma hid herself as much behind Mirabelle as possible.  Fire warmed Regina's hands, approaching the point of actually burning her as her temper rose.  "Swan, did you just call me a whore?"  
  
    "It was a joke!" she squeaked.  Using her heritage might have been a bit much, though.  Could she haul into the saddle and be off running before Regina cooked her head?  Probably not.  
  
    "I suppose you'd know all about them, being one yourself." she growled.  
  
    "Hey!"  Emma rose to the bait, ducking her head down in time to avoid the fireball that zipped just over Mirabelle's saddle.  "Dammit, Regina, it was a stupid joke!  I'm sorry, okay?!  You're not a whore, you're a...a...a princess, of course!  A true and pure Lady, yeah?!"  
  
    Mirabelle trotted away, spying a patch of grass that looked particularly lush, and Emma shuffled awkwardly in place, grinning nervously.  Regina glowered, much like when they met, only now her odds were fantastic and she had a very simple choice to make.  
  
    Emma itched at her nose.  "If it, uh...makes you feel any better, I'm not a true Imperial.  My Da's a Nord."  
  
    The fires snuffed and Regina tisked.  "I could have told you that.  Tall, boorish, thick, stomping around like a Troll--"  
  
    "I am not thick!" Emma gaped, slapping at her stomach and gesturing to her body in general.  
  
    She fought off a smile.  Sometimes it was just too damn easy and she approached, rapping her knuckles lightly on Emma's forehead.  "Thick, my dear."  
  
    The Monk sulked but took her due, turning heel and stomping much as Regina had just suggested.  "Mirabelle!  Stop stuffing your face!"  
  
    "Don't yell at her!"  
  
    "Well I can't yell at you and I'm not crazy enough to yell at myself!"  
  
    "You just yelled at me."  
  
    "Gah!" Emma tossed up her hands and set out at a run.  
  
  
  
    So it was that Regina had an Emma-free afternoon.  To her annoyance, she did exactly as the Monk suggested, gathering the latest word from the beggar population between trips to various shops.  She couldn't steal from her usual stops as every merchant was on high-alert thanks to some new Bosmer's general store.  Apparently his prices were ridiculously low and, to Regina's great surprise, many a merchant asked for her help in figuring out why.  That meant talking with Jensine, who may have loved Emma to bits but Regina, being a Breton, didn't exactly inspire warm-fuzzies wherever she went.  
  
    It would have to be looked into later.  
  
    The Green Emperor Way occupied two hours alone as she bid her time and relieved a few pockets and purses of their terrible weights in gold.  A stone city full of fat-cats and each fed well enough that a few crumbs here and there meant little.  Another hour and a half was killed at the Arcane University debating enchantments.  It wasn't until she was reviewing glove enchantments that Regina realized she was bored and looking for the Monk.  So she boxed up and headed to the one place that not only had Emma mentioned but where one would find a restless, thick-headed, purely-physical type.  
  
    She frowned at the massive statue of St Alessia but pushed onward to where the sun's orange light filled the tiny 'office' of the Arena.  The swell of a thousand voices washed over her ears, muffled the instant she stepped into the foyer.  "I'm looking for someone.  Tall, blonde, green eyes, leather and all fists?"  
  
    Hundoli blinked at her and chuckled before realizing she was serious.  "Oh...erm..."  
  
    Regina realized the idiocy of her question too late.  No matter how finely dressed the Nord, he would always find his way to a fight.  "Never mind, I'll just look around."  
  
    "Ma'am, you..." he reached for her arm but Regina's glare gave him wise pause.  "You have to bet to watch the next match."  
  
    He was shorter than her but there was determination born of battling off a million and one drunks a day so Regina sighed and tossed twenty-five gold at him, pushing into the stands as the last match's observers exited.  A question was hollered her way, barely discernible over the flood of bodies, but Regina managed to get the gist.  "Blue!" she shouted back.  
  
    She squeezed onto a semi-private balcony before the rest of the next round either returned or joined the crowd fresh from the streets.  An Argonian nodded to her but said nothing and Regina managed to control herself when the remaining drunken Redguard groped her ass.  She contained her lesson to breaking only one of his fingers, and a non-major one at that, shoving him towards the stairs afterwords.  The audience crowded in next to each other, muttering and screaming excitedly about something.    
  
    Regina leaned on the stone cap of the balcony's rail, scanning the crowd but coming up empty, to her frustration.  Emma was unique enough among the crowd that Regina felt sure she could spot her at a hundred paces.  Apparently not, though.  Stuck, she decided to at least see if her money went anywhere.  Bloodsports were not at all uncommon where she came from and there was free ale.  She claimed a bottle and a stool, leaning her elbows on the table in mimicry of the Argonian across from her.  Yellow eyes reviewed her armor and in turn, Regina studied him.  
  
    They weren't so bad up close...unlike Orcs.  His scales were red and green, touched with blue stripes, but Regina always found that they looked ridiculous in Imperial clothing.  Perhaps one day she would see what the fashion trends were for a quasi-aquatic people but for then, he caught her staring and she looked away, blushing.  
  
    The crier's voice lifted above the crowd and saved her from any awkward conversation.  To be sure, though, she went to the railing once more.  Regina squinted, trying to see if it was a fluke, but no - her Blue-Team bet had absolutely no weapons and she was further disheartened to hear that there were two Bosmer archers on the Yellow Team.  She muttered an oath but startled as chuckling sounded to her right.  
  
    Her Argonian counterpoint leaned on the railing as well, tipping his ale to the Blue fighter.  "That one is strong, Breton.  Do not give up hope."  
  
    "Against two Bosmer archers?" she denied haughtily.  "What ever could I be worried about?"  
  
    He smiled in the sort-of-grimacing way his people had and took another swig of ale as the gates dropped.  Blue immediately ducked the first arrows and came out with a mighty charge, crossing the bloody field with strong, sure strides that sent the Bosmer pair scattering.  One of them didn't move fast enough however and was thrown into the middle of the field.  A good show, Regina imagined.  It didn't do to kill where no one could see it, where only part of the peoples' bloodlust could be fed.  
  
    Blue made another charge but the tossed Bosmer knocked and drew before rising, sending the beast off to the side and in line for his sister's shot, though it only skimmed past Blue's neck.  Blue twisted to avoid yet another arrow and Regina's stomach dropped when a few wild blonde curls escaped the snug helm.  Divines bless her, Emma was the Blue fighter!  She gasped and cursed in one breath.  What was the idiot thinking?!  
  
    The Argonian chuckled when the nonchalance evaporated from Regina's body, swallowed in lines of tension and intrigue.  "She is probably going to be a Champion one day."  
  
    "She's going to get herself killed." Regina snapped hotly.  
  
    "Perhaps." He shrugged.  "It is the risk one takes."  
  
    She promptly ignored him again, almost coming out of her skin when one of the Bosmer lashed out with his bow, slapping the flat of it across Emma's face and making her head snap to the side.  Regina had seen Emma use that move before...had she learned it from them?!  Perhaps that and more for Emma jerked her body back to avoid the arrow, sans bow, aimed for her guts.  She planted a foot, snatched the nearest wrist, brought it forward, and sent her elbow crashing down onto the lithe forearm.    
  
    The howl of agony was swallowed in the roar of the crowd; the thunder rolling all the stronger when Emma snapped the little bastard's neck and left his broken corpse like a trashed toy.  She ducked and rolled behind a pillar, an arrow head scraping the stone as the Bosmer sister yet to be taken down fired arrows off with new intensity.  Regina recognized the fire in the archer and shivered.  It was empowering but dangerous.  
  
    Emma seemed to recognize it too for she built a new strategy.  She rolled back into the line of fire but picked up the dead Bosmer and ran for the remaining archer, using him as a shield.  As hoped, the fresh loss delayed the last of her arrows and Emma was able to push the corpse into her, kick her legs out from under her, and bring her heel down on the Bosmer's throat.  
  
    Thunder was hardly an apt description.  People yelled and stomped their feet, making the very stone vibrate under Regina's feet unlike any spell she'd ever experienced.  It only grew worse when Emma removed her helm with a dramatic flourish, holding it and a fist to the sky.  A few flowers were tossed into the Arena and the crier struggled to be heard, declaring the victor and asking the successful to collect their winnings.  
  
    Regina was already gone when the Argonian turned from the festivities.  
  
  
  
    Emma gasped as the cuts on her legs and neck, close calls that were entirely too close, began to heal, the Basin restoring her frayed fatigue in a smooth, almost instant rush of magic.  It wasn't quite the kicker-juice Regina had experimented with, but she didn't feel like falling over anymore and that would do.  She now had the strength to change, swagger up to Owyn, and grin like a cocky idiot as she accepted his praise and a promotion.  No longer a Brawler but a Bloodletter!  She turned, already thinking ahead to a meal and the largest tankard of mead she could find, when an armored palm connected with her cheek, snapping her head the exact opposite direction the Bosmer's sharp strike had.  
  
    "What the fuck?!" she yowled, holding her now-bleeding cheek.  
  
    "What were you thinking, you moron?!" Regina snapped, embers yet again flying from her palms as they did when she was angry and hitting things, namely Emma's chest and shoulders.  "You could have been killed and you didn't even think to warn me before strolling off to die?!"  
  
    "Regina!  Hey, watch-OW!  Dammit, stop that!" she snarled, grabbing Regina's wrists.  "Mara's love, what is your problem?!"  
  
    Owyn edged around them but Emma caught his shit-eating grin and felt a blush crawling up her neck.    
  
    "My problem?!  Let's talk about yours!  Leaving me just to run off and die is not acceptable!"  
  
    Emma's blush only grew worse as other fighters had stopped and were listening in; even the strikingly polite Grand-Champion paused his regime.  She switched to grabbing one of Regina's arms and leading her, rather forcefully, out of the Bloodworks.  "You have no control or say over what I do with my time or my life!  What in Oblivion is your problem, princess?"  
  
    "Hold still." she growled, holding Emma's face and healing her cheek before ripping her hands away.  "You..." she breathed, shoulders sagging as the fight left her.  "You have to go home.  You don't get to die in some cold, lonely place like this.  I...I wouldn't know where to take your body."  
  
    Emma loosed a long sigh, still peeved but attempting to let it go.  "That was a promotion round.  It means I've gained a rank in the Arena.  More gold, tougher fights.  These rounds especially are worse than any other 'cause they throw the worst of the rank against you so they're always uglier than a standard match.  I was promoted tonight because I'm damn good at what I do, Regina.  I don't walk in there thinking I'll win but by all the Gods, I know that I will use every trick in the damned book to be the one left standing."  
  
    "So you're saying I shouldn't worry?" she bit.  
  
    It made the Monk smile.  "I'm saying I'm glad you worry.  It's one more thing to keep me thinking I've got to make it out alive."  
  
    Regina blushed, not all that sure why, but she smiled faintly.  "So...big win for you.  I know a cheap, quiet place to drink some good ale."  
  
    "Why princess, I'm shocked."  Emma grinned, indicating Regina should lead on.  "Betting on bloodsports and now taking a pretty girl out for drinks.  You rebel, you."  
  
    "Huh...where is that girl you're talking about?"  
  
    "Funny, highness.  Yuk it up."  
  
    Regina led them around to the Waterfront District and rolled her eyes when Emma's brows climbed up her forehead.  They walked to the opposite shore and turned left, drawing to a stop in front of  
  
    "A boat....house?"  
  
    "It's a floating hotel, Emma." Regina rolled her eyes.  "This is where I spent my first few days in the city.  The owner isn't...all bad.  He's rather proud of his creation."  
  
    "That's a word for it.  Can't we go back for the Tiber?  It's warm...and stationary."  
  
    "Come on, you big baby."  
  
    Bristling at this new title, Emma hunched her shoulders and followed along, glancing around once inside as though certain touching something would spring a leak.  Regina rolled her eyes yet again and called out.  "Jones, are you in?"  
  
    It was actually...pretty nice.  Emma stepped down to what seemed to be a tavern area.  Other than the mast sticking straight up through the middle of the room, she was positive a joke existed there, it was clean, organized, and comfortable.  She startled when an Orc appeared from a door above the bar, coming down the steps with the sort of graceful strength Emma associated with his kin.  She hooked her fingers into her curiass and waited.  
  
    "Ah, the young miss.  It's been long since you've graced this humble hall."  
  
    Emma almost gagged.  
  
    Fortunately, Regina cut her off at the pass.  "You can stop with the theatrics, Uzul.  This one is as much an Orc as you."  
  
    His dark eyes shot to Emma, looked her up and down, and he nodded with a grunt.  "So it seems.  He's locked up in his cabin, by the by.  Hasn't come out for two days now."  
  
    "Business hasn't been that slow, I'm sure!"  
  
    "Oh no.  I just received a promotion when he found his latest plaything."  
  
    Regina sighed, tilted her chin in a way Emma had been growing to recognize as instant trouble, and slipped past Uzul to pound her fist on the door behind the bar.  "Jones!  Jones, get out here right now or I'm coming in!"  
  
    The miracle of that tone.  Emma had fallen prey to it twice, both times it had ripped her from a sleeping stupor at record speed.  Sure enough, it wasn't just Emma for there was the sound of soft thumps and the mutter of conversation.  Not even three minutes later, a tousled, lanky man of dark hair and darker eyes emerged from the cabin, wiping at his lips.  "Ah, Regina.  Always a pleasure."  
  
    "I hear you promoted Uzul beyond bodyguard and, nothing personal, I'd rather we not walk away poisoned."  
  
    "We?" he cocked a brow, finishing fastening his black pants as he scanned the room and landed on Emma.  A smile curled his lips and he came around the counter, ignoring Regina by proxy, to extend his good hand to the Monk.  "Hello, there.  I'm Killian Jones, Captain in all ways."  
  
    "Emma." she reached for his wrist but found her fingers scooped up with his hook and his lips pressed to her leather-bound knuckles.  An actual bloody hook.  
  
    "Enchanted." he purred.  
  
    Emma fought the impulse to wipe her hand off and resolutely locked it back into place on her armor.  Was the guy serious?  "What's your ale?"  
  
    "Imperial standards plus a few of my own design." he grinned, offering his arm.  For lack of anything else to do, and finding his heavy-handed-attempts at flirting entertaining, she accepted and allowed him to escort her an entire ten feet.  Shoeless and shirtless, he none the less held presence behind the bar; the perfect stage for his dramatics.  "What'll it be, ladies?"  
  
    "Surprise me with something of yours." Emma cocked a brow.  "I'm up for a challenge tonight."  
  
    "Ah, a woman of daring and action.  Quite the rarity around here, love." he chuckled to himself, glancing at the taps before deciding.  Was it supposed to be hilarious that he kept the taps at crotch-level?  Emma bit her lip to stifle her laughter, just in case.  
  
    "Emma has actually just been promoted in the Arena tonight." Regina interjected sharply, perhaps too much so if the raised eyebrow from Emma was any indicator.  "W-we just wanted a pint or two to celebrate." she muttered, fiddling with a strap on her greaves.  
  
    "S'that so, love?" Killian scraped the foam off with a dagger, setting the flagon before Emma.  "I daresay this fine establishment may one day serve a Grand Champion!"  
  
    "Speaking of..." Emma breathed the ale's scent, finding something strangely sweet therein.  "The Bloated Float?"  
  
    He waited until she sipped, gauging her reaction as pleased, if not overly enthused.  "It's a temporary reprieve until some heat dies down.  Then I can go back to my actual ship.  It's larger than this tub, painted bold colors that can be seen for miles."  
  
    "I'd say you're a pirate of daring, then." Emma smirked.  
  
    "I do have a knack for pillaging."  
  
    "Weren't you entertaining, Killian?"  
  
    Jones gave Regina an odd side-long look but took it in stride.  "Ah, but of course." He gave them a dramatic bow.  "My Champion.  My Lady.  If you need anything, even late tonight, please do not hesitate to call."  
  
    "We'll keep your door in mind." Emma smiled but her words were desert-dry.  She sighed, mostly in relief, when his door quietly snicked shut.  "Well he's...excitable."  
  
    Regina choked on her ale.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something to note - I realize that Telekinesis is nowhere near able to toss people around like ragdolls but this is Regina we're talking about. She'd find a way! Also, I imagine our resident Sorceress to be post-Daniel but pre-Evil so if she's not half the hardass you think she aught to be, that's why.
> 
> And then Steamboat Willie, aka Captain Hook of the Bloated Float. :)


	7. The Hangover

    The second of Killian's specialty ales was ten times better than the first and Emma imbibed all the more when a few patrons joined them and recognized her from the Arena.  Regina cornered some man in black leather armor but Emma didn't think anything about it while going into her third telling of her victory that day.  Killian managed to poke his head out of his cabin more than a few times, moving among his now-busy clientele with grace and charm that kept them eating and drinking.  
  
    Uzul had half a cup of ale and even that, he drank slowly.  He watched Regina 'gently' escort the man in black out of the establishment, lifting a brow her way when she returned.  "Looking for work?"  
  
    Her expression froze over between neutral and disdain.  "A boastful fool, nothing more.  Your job is secure."  
  
    He lifted and dropped a shoulder with a practiced lack of care.  "Suit yourself.  I was planning a vacation, though."  
  
    Regina sighed when she sat beside him on the stairs.  Orcs and Bretons didn't traditionally get on so well however the Sorceress had known more than a few in her day and found them acceptable when she got over their instinctive, brutal nature.  "Going back to your family?"  
  
    A grunt.  "If my wives will have me.  I send them gold but only my Forge-wife's letters hold any passion these days."  
  
    "I see."  And she did but Regina glossed over the issue - even one Orc in soft trappings was a force when his dander was up.  
  
    "As for you?  A week you wander the docks, half starved and crazy and then for another week you looked sane.  Now you return with wealth and company, looking half-crazed again."  
  
    " _That_." she grumbled, waving a hand towards Emma by way of explanation.  
  
    "The pale Orc."  
  
    Regina snorted, stifling a laugh.  
  
    "Your friend?"  
  
    Said as a question but Regina tensed, hearing the statement in it all the same.  There weren't many permanent things in her life and she'd grown used to the transient nature of Life in general, but Emma...she felt a smile pull at her lips, unbidden.  "Yes..." she admitted softly.  
  
    "A friend that drives you crazy?" he clucked, getting a hearty chuckle from deep in his chest.  
  
    "What else do Orcs do to Bretons?" she shot back.  
  
    Fortunately, she was in the company of an Orc that wouldn't pulverize her for issuing such a challenge.  Uzul enjoyed the city life.  It was easy and uncomplicated and as long as he put the 'boo' into a few folks, it stayed that way.  One of his brows arched.  "How wealthy is this friend?"  
  
    "I'm not sure.  Why do you as-- _Emma put that chair down_!!"  
  
  
  
    "Spooooilsport!"  
  
    "I'm _so_ sorry I interrupted your balancing act." Regina huffed, managing to get the Inn-level door open and save herself from getting crushed by Emma's limp body.  "And the contest of strength.  And the 'who can have a chair broken over her back' dare."  
  
    "Yer no' sorry..."  
  
    "Damn right I'm not." she seethed.  Emma clung to her back limpet-style, long arms noodling around the Sorceress' front every minute or so.  
  
    "I'da won, too!"  
  
    "Yes, yes, you're a regular Champion."  
  
    Regina aimed for the right cabin first, peeved at Killian for kicking out the bastards with homes and then ducking away before having to deal with Emma.  Her irritation notched up to closer to fury when the door proved locked and Emma slouched against her, all bones gone when she trapped Regina against the door.  "S'locked..." she muttered from where her face was tucked against Regina's neck.  
  
    The Sorceress blushed, feeling it all the way in her toes, and pressed back a little.  "R-Right, we should check the other room..."  
  
    Emma sighed dramatically, a few bones returning to her body as she aimed her right hand at the doorknob and attempted to open it with magic.  When it didn't budge, she stood rigid and upright, proving herself the wall that Regina fell back against.  Bleary green eyes narrowed at the locked door, her magic focusing in intensity yet the lock refused to give.  Her arm fell to her side, boneless yet again, and she looked to Regina with a frown.  "Doesn' work..."  
  
    "Probably because you're drunk." she offered as though speaking to a child.  "Or it needs a key."  
  
    Regina saw the tiny shift in Emma's expression, the jump of her jaw muscles, and moved just as the Monk raised a fist.   She intercepted the swing that certainly would have opened the door and shook her head, leading Emma into the left room.  It proved open, empty, and clean, to her relief.  One could never been too demanding of cleanliness with Killian anywhere in a mile's radius.  "Alright, last stop."  
  
    Emma flopped onto the bed without need for encouragement, her bones sliding between liquid and solid with no regard for gravity.  Regina worked on removing her boots, gauntlets, and curiass, setting them aside in a precise order that would allow her to dress quickly.  Her blue silk shirt, this one from Emma, was less ruined than the red from her first forays with steel armor as she'd learned a few tricks and secrets to help keep cool and mobile.  The fact made her proud and she reviewed her armor with a sense of peace and accomplishment.  
  
    "Gonna preen all night or come t'bed?"  
  
    Emma's languid speech startled Regina and she turned, finding that Emma had squished herself as close to the wall as possible.  Against her better judgement, she stepped closer to the bed.  "Sleep it off, Miss Swan."  
  
    "Y'need sleep too."  
  
    "I'm fine."  
  
    The Monk lunged before Regina finished speaking, gathering Regina to herself and falling back onto the bed.  "Emma...name's Emma..."  
  
    Even in a drunken stupor, Emma's grip was considerable so Regina resigned herself to her fate, not for one second acknowledging the blush spreading from her face to reach down her chest.  "You're a brute."  
  
    "You're not sleepin' on the floor." she groused, her vowels drawn out long and sloppy.  
  
    Regina sighed but closed her eyes.  Morning couldn't come fast enough.  
  
  
  
    "Gods, Regina.  Wake up!"  
  
    She slapped at the annoyance shaking her shoulder, loathe to leave such a deep, healing sleep.  Regina flinched back when the skin of her side was pinched through her shirt.  Emma was squatting next to the bed and the Sorceress hissed a breath.  "Miss Swan, I--"  
  
    Emma clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking her head vigorously.  Only then did Regina notice her companion had her bow out, an arrow resting at the ready.  Emma also looked like death warmed over but that was more easily explained.  Her mouth was released and Regina licked her lips, glancing around.  All of their things were still in the cabin.  "What is it?"  
  
    "We've been put out to sea."  
  
    Indeed, now that her ire was subsiding, she could feel the soft rocking of the floating hotel and hear subtle creaks and groans not present while in port.  "Killian..." she growled.  
  
    But Emma shook her head once more.  "I haven't seen Uzul and whoever is out in the hall certainly doesn't want to serve us breakfast."  
  
    Regina hurried to her feet but was given pause as Emma stood up and slowly, ever so, opened and presented her steel curiass.  She gave the Monk an odd glance but Emma was focused on the door so Regina slipped the coverings on, now glad that she hadn't removed the pauldrons or faulds.  Carefully, her gauntlets came next but she shook her head at the offering of her boots.  Emma cocked a brow but Regina was unmoved.   
  
    "Come on, then." Emma resumed her squat and Regina reluctantly took to a knee behind her.  The door was edged open and Emma loosed an arrow, sinking it straight into the base of the intruder's skull.  Her lips pressed into a grim line and she shuffled forward, examining the man's pockets.  Her fingers came free with a slip of moldy paper.  "Huh...Blackwater Raiders."  
  
    "Know them?"  
  
    Not even a note of derision but Emma didn't call out the princess' curiosity.  She produced a key off the man's body and twirled it through her fingers, eyeing the door ahead instead of the one beside.  "Not really.  Some rumors flying about rogue bandits that have started killing to go along with their thieving."  
  
    "That's a little excessive."  
  
    Emma slipped the key into the lock, gratified when it clicked in reply to her twist.  "Says the thief."  
  
    "I'm n-not..."  Regina swallowed her stammer, expression growing tight.  "I'm no murderer."  
  
    She almost commented that it wasn't her place to judge.  The Divines only knew how much shit Emma had gotten herself into before crawling back on-course.  In the end, she held her tongue and cracked the door, fully expecting to see another bandit.  Instead, she almost had an eye taken out.  "Whoa, Uzul!" Emma dragged the door back, trapping the flying fist at the forearm.  "It's us!"  
  
    His arm stayed until Emma heard a quiet grunt of acknowledgement and let the door swing freely.  "What in Oblivion is going on here?!" Regina demanded.  
  
    Uzul was sporting a black eye and a sizable lump on his head and he massaged his forearm, sure it would bruise.  "I don't know.  Got all boarded up for the night and I hear a noise too quiet, right?  Sure as shit, there's a thief ready to kick me down.  I got a couple of blows in but the bastard must'a had someone else 'cause I was out cold 'fore long."  A rough sigh.  "Woke up and we're out for a cruise."  
  
    Emma rubbed at her forehead with an agrivated sigh of her own.  "Doesn't that just take the damn cake?  Know anything about the Blackwater Raiders?"  
  
    "No more than anyone else."  
  
    "This is not the time for swapping stories." Regina planted herself in the mix.  "We need to get this boat turned around!"  
  
    "Ship." the pair commented as one.  
  
    Regina fought off a roll of her eyes.  "Whatever.  Knowing Killian, he's already up to his ears in this mess.  We need to find him and get home."  
  
    "I'm not doing anything 'til I know the Captain's safe."  
  
    Both half-breeds regarded him with an odd look but Uzul folded his arms as though to prove his point.  "Who knew a pirate could breed loyalty?" Emma gruffed, shouldering out of the room and into the tavern level.  
  
    Close behind, Regina had the chance to watch Emma crouch and then spring forward and up, hauling into another body that made only one noise.  The Sorceress was waved forward but with no key to Killian's cabin found, they were forced to go above decks.  Alarmed by yet another bandit, Regina lashed out and incinerated the man.  Emma stared at his half-cooked corpse for a quiet minute before she trembled and leaned over the rail, losing dinner and possibly lunch, too.  
  
    Regina grimaced but took up the roll of cleaning out pockets, finding the key they needed and disregarding the rest.  Rain clouds threatened above them but the air was stagnant and still.  "All this time and _now_ you throw up?"  
  
    "Hu...hungo-over..." she groaned with as much bite as possible, which was to say none as her stomach rolled over for round two.    
  
    It took a few minutes, and several long swallows of water, before Emma stopped shivering and felt remotely confident that her stomach was settled.  Just in case, Regina took point.  She paused before Killian's door and pushed Emma back a step.  "Please stop breathing near me."  
  
    "Next time I'll vomit on you, princess."  
  
    Regina's glare announced what she thought of that.    
  
    "Jones?"  
  
    The Sorceress pushed into the cabin without dramatic flare, pausing as a woman approached, brandishing a blade that glowed red.  Regina, quite tired of this little adventure already, didn't even give her a chance to speak.  Her right hook grounded the bandit leader and stretched the silence out thin.  Killian, new and improved with pants _and_ boots this time, offered a meek chuckle.  "Remind me to never piss you off, love."  
  
    "You were entertaining a woman that would have killed us all.  Get us back to port, moron." she huffed, striding around Emma.  
  
    The Monk watched her leave, then cocked a brow at Killian.  "You two know each other?"  
  
    "I wish I could say better, love."   
  
    Emma rolled her eyes and slammed the door shut behind her.  
  
  
    While Regina 'rested', which Emma decided meant watching the tiny room from the slits of her eyes, the Monk poked around.  She managed to spy some gems tucked away very secretly, deciding they made excellent pay for her work while hungover.  Then the tavern suffered a hearty blow from experience and Emma's stomach as she tore through whatever foods looked the tastiest and were sure to dull down the rancid churning of her insides.  With that complete, and unable to pester Uzul on the quarter deck (and certainly _unwilling_ to barge in on Jones), Emma checked on the bandit leader prisoner before returning to her quarters.  
  
    More because sleep sounded better than bothering Regina did Emma park herself on the deck, limbs sprawled as she aimed to get some sleep before they hit port again.  
  
    Spare seconds passed before Emma was being (gently) kicked awake.  
  
    "Fuck off..." she mumbled, rolling onto her stomach.  
  
    "That leaves me with Jones, and I'd rather not."  
  
    Emma cracked a baleful eye, puffing out a sigh of indignation.  "Don't you have a home to go to?"  
  
    "I've been to mine.  Now we go to yours.  I will light this cabin on fire if you are not topside in five minutes."  
  
    With that, Emma was alone to consider Regina's threat.  Could she?  Certainly.  Would she?  
  
    Emma was topside in four and a half.  
  
  
  
  
    Emma later found herself wondering if she was a masochist; a true glutton for punishment, even.    
  
    Or perhaps she was bewitched for Regina always ended up getting what she wanted.  
  
    Emma glowered as Regina doubled over with laughter, actually daring to fall onto the water's surface and not fall into it.  "Ha-Ha, princess!  Very goddamned funny!"  
  
    Embarrassment colored Emma's cheeks.  The Sorceress wished to cut a little time off their trip and suggested they cross the Rumare the direct way.  Emma had been running along after Regina, not even thinking when they hit the shoreline.  Regina kept moving...Emma went face-first into the water.  A new ring glittered on Regina's right hand, golden and shimmering with enchantments - such as water walking.  The trinket Emma had snuck from the unconscious Blackwater brigand had apparently been stolen from her, per the rules of her own damned game, and Regina had run off to the Arcane University to work some magic on it.  
  
    "Enough already!" she bellowed, her leather beginning to cling uncomfortably.  She didn't really like chain mail but perhaps an upgrade was in order.  
  
    Regina twitched with a few final giggles, adrenaline soaring high after Emma's face-plant into the lake.  Never before would she have imagined anyone to fall for that!  Regina's braid, hastily thrown together that morning, dripped down her back but it did not stop her grin.  "Care to try that again?"  
  
    Emma's angry pacing stopped short as if an idea struck her.  She ran for the shallows, dove in neatly, and swam the distance to Regina.  The Sorceress didn't so much as blink until she saw Emma plant her feet on the lake basin.  However then it was too late to do little more than shriek as Emma's powerful frame exploded upwards.  She nabbed Regina and, under such force, managed to submerge the Sorceress completely on her way down again.   
  
    She released Regina right away, of course, and began to swim away.    
  
    Her quarry rose up in red fury and Emma put every ounce of faith into all the hours she'd spent battling currents, hoping her muscles remembered.  Regina's steps pounded behind her, actually breaking the initial surface tension before the next layer caught her feet, giving Emma all the motivation she needed to power across the lake, reach the shore first, and turn to brace for company.  
  
    Unfortunately the Divines put a mudcrab right under her foot and its squeal, plus the subsequent **_crunch_** , distracted Emma long enough for Regina to catch up.  The Monk's teeth clacked together at the slam of an armored fist into her chin and her foot slipped on the mudcrab remnants, tossing gravity out the window until she landed flat on her back.  Silence ensued and Emma's breath locked up tight in her lungs as a Flame Atronach's face hovered inches from her own.  
  
    "Death by mudcrab after nearly drowning.  You are a sad, sad Champion."  
  
    "Call off your bitch." Emma growled, ensuring she spat the word.  Her spittle hissed against the Atronach's face and caused it to recoil.  
  
    Regina was loath to, more so because she was rather enjoying the sight of this latest summoned creature.  She was lithe and energetic, eager to apply flames to all of Mundus should she be given free reign, and she complimented Regina's temper oh so well.  But all good things.  She waved the Atronach away and watched Emma rise, pulling a face when the Monk began to remove gooey bits of mudcrab off her back.  "That is revolting."  
  
    "It would have been alright eats." Emma sulked, feeling her hangover tickle her throat when she pulled a stalk-eye away.  "Except that..."  
  
    A leg came away next, snotty and dripping, and Regina actually turned, swallowing hard.  "Can we move on yet?"  
  
    "You gonna try drowning me again?"  
  
    "I think it was you that tried to drown me."  
  
    Emma growled and ripped at the ties of her curiass, breaking the leather strips and shrugging out of her protective layer.  It was tossed to the sand with the rest of the mudcrab and Emma tugged at the sleeves of her simple, dark green shirt.  It showcased her arms, Regina noticed, especially when the Monk folded them across her chest.  "Why are we walking, again?"  
  
    "The head groom informed me of their new boarding program.  She seemed very proud of it and Mirabelle appeared happy with the other horses."  
  
    A happy horse.  Emma prayed for strength.  "Did you happen to recall that Orcs eat horses?"  
  
    Regina's smile was decidedly wicked.  Emma felt it low in her belly.  "I happened to inform her that I know several prominent figures in the city and if I returned to find Mirabelle harmed or missing, I would have them hold her on false charges until I saw fit to remove each of her fingers and toes followed by all of her fangs."  
  
    Emma's antagonism bled off into nothing as she smirked.  "Does she happen to know you're some crazy Skyrim-heralded magician that is in better with the beggars than the bureaucrats?"  
  
    "Probably not." Her smile shifted to something genuine and innocent with a shrug added for emphasis.  
  
    "You're a piece of work, princess." Emma shook her head and nodded to the Southeast, where the forest's shadows were beginning to grow long.  "Shall we?"  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was more filler than anything but Mirabelle gets a rest and the intrepid duo are underway once more! Killian will reappear, worry not. I hate the Bloated Float...always forget about the damn quest and suddenly find myself involved 'cause I was looking for a cheap place to sleep in the City. :) Mudcrabs lead me to thinking about Castaway and gooey, uncooked crabs. Bleh.


	8. Red is the Color

    "You're really gonna like it, ya know?  Oh, careful here."  
  
    Regina clasped Emma's hand, forced to do so unless she wanted a mouthful of rushing river; the Cabolo River, to be exact.  Emma more or less allowed herself to be coerced into helping some farmers solve a goblin war that kept destroying their efforts to build up.  Regina had dryly suggested moving to a new location and Emma had snarled at her to shut up.  
  
    She'd been especially guilty and delicate with Regina when they began traveling again and the dethroned royal soaked up the attentions with glee.  
  
    "I should hope so, given the gleaming reviews I've been hearing about the last three days."  
  
    Emma offered her other hand, hauling Regina across the spread of two submerged boulders to ensure the waterline didn't so much as near the Sorceress' chin - you could never be too careful about heavy armor.  The last time she'd walked the Yellow Road some idiot Legion officer attempted to take a pound of flesh when she wouldn't cough up gold for his fictional bridge toll so this time, Emma forged the fairly chilled water with the fluttering wonder if he'd found his way back to whatever outpost spawned him.    
  
    The shallows yawned before them, Regina slogging through and greeting the shore first.  Emma squished off the sand and into the grass to remove her boots, draining them of water.  "Half expect a fish to fall out of there."  
  
    Regina could have walked across the river but the joke had worn thin and Emma had been adamant about helping her - and avoiding the road.  "I would at least expect a clam or two."  
  
    Emma chuckled, sliding her boots on while Regina imitated her earlier actions, draining the steel boots clean.  "I'm sure men would pay to so much as drink from your boot, highness."  
  
    A blatant look of disgust warped Regina's features.  "I've heard of champagne from a slipper but where in Nirn would you have gotten such an idea?"  
  
    "Stories."  
  
    It made the Sorceress realize that whatever semi-stable ground they found themselves on, Emma would always be outside her circle.  Were it not for...well, she never would have left in the first place and so never have come across such an infuriating, snap-tempered commoner.  "Most of what you hear about royal life isn't true." she informed with a bitter tang.  "It's work all the time."  
  
    "Keeping up appearances." Emma nodded sagely, blind to the irony of her scruffy leathers and poorly-fit chain mail curiass.  It was Matius' gift to her but she'd resisted wearing it.  The people of Skingrad had just about stampeded her when she tried it on and walked around, all of them desperate for news and hope she couldn't provide.    
  
    Regina, however, took note of the unintended zing and smiled, pulling her boots on.  "Fortunately for me, that is no longer my life."  
  
    "A good thing, too." the Monk smirked, gaining her feet.  "A bath every day and being perfumed to the point of pain would send every creature in ten miles straight to us."  
  
    "Or running from us." she jeered, surprising herself by going along with the joke.  For a while, she really had missed her daily bath.  Amazing what a couple of months could do.  
  
    "You think Mirabelle's alright?"  
  
    "Aw, and here I thought you weren't much of a horse person."  
  
    Emma sniffed defensively.  "I'm not, really.  I just wish I could know she's okay."  
  
    "And alive?"  
  
    A grunt was all the reply needed.  
  
    "Most likely."  
  
    "Reassurance at its finest."  
  
    "Perhaps you should hunt down a Doomstone...The Steed should work nicely with all your fidgeting."  
  
    "I do not..." Her thumbs aggressively hooked into her belt to keep the rest of her hands from picking at the Kvatch standard.  "Do you like fishing?"  
  
    "I would think not." she grimaced.  "Nords enjoy spear-fishing and they slap their catch into the boat.  Fish are slimy and slippery and--"  
  
    "Wiggly."  
  
    "...yes." she puffed out a breath, glad to be walking a pace ahead.  
  
    "Maybe boating instead?  Oh!  You like swimming."  
  
    She neatly sidestepped the sarcasm.  "Planning on riding the currents the rest of the way?"  
  
    "Well...no but-"  
  
    "Miss Swan, I'm sure it is a very lovely village.  You don't have to sell it to me every day."  
  
    "How about kids?"  
  
    Regina risked a glance back but Emma's eyes were unfocused some twenty steps ahead.  "Baby goats?" she teased.  
  
    As hoped, green eyes rolled.  "Children, majesty.  Smaller versions of adult humans?"  
  
    "Of course, what was I thinking?"  
  
    Emma stewed in silence, stretching it out for three more hours until she declared it time for a break.  She immediately produced two sweetrolls, pressing both of them into Regina's hands.  "I was, uh...savin' them."  
  
    "To buy my favor or ease our parting?"  
  
    The blunt, hurt tone startled Emma further out of her funk.  "Eh?  Oh, no, no!  Nothing like that...gods, Regina!"  
  
    "Continue, then."  She bit into one of the rolls to hide her sigh of relief.  
  
    "I...uh..."  
  
    Several other false-starts peppered Regina's enjoyment of her sweet treat and she lingered on the second roll, staring at it in serious contemplation.  To save it for later or not?  
  
    "Last time when I left, he was so mad at me and we fought and it was horrible and...Gods!" she groaned, scrubbing her face with her hands and looking to the sky, scowling at its lack of answers.  
  
    "Your husband?"  
  
    The flat monotone with which the question was delivered washed over Emma, knocking straight against her funny bone to spur a laugh.  She shook her head and wiped a tear from the corner of her left eye.  "Husband?  Who knew you were so funny?"  
  
    "It's a natural assumption!" Regina huffed defensively.  
  
    Emma grinned, snickers still threatening behind her teeth.  "I have a son, Regina.  A tiny, male version of me?"  
  
    "A wonder your village is still standing, then."  
  
    "Ow." she mocked, patting the mail over her heart.  Regina's ire was fizzling but Emma still had her hand slapped when she tried to reach for the un-marred sweetroll.  She drew a deep breath and sighed it out.  "What I'm trying to say is he's probably still pissed at me and I realize it might look like a crap situation."  
  
    "It's not my place to judge your family."  
  
    Emma blinked, cautiously pleased.  "I might have been buttering you up just a little, though."  
  
    "Ah, the plot thickens." Regina rolled her eyes, tearing the sweet in half lest she lose fingers when Emma's stomach won out.  
  
    "I could be mean, y'know." she grumbled around her food.  
  
    "To think I've yet to see nice!"  
  
    Emma settled on a scathing glower, biding her time and chewing with just enough vigor to agitate the Sorceress.  When she swallowed, she looked away.  "I was hoping since, y'know, we've been traveling together for a while, you might...uh...talk to him?"  
  
    Regina's olive skin washed white for a moment, her expression going blank before stretching into bemusement.  "You want a perfect stranger to talk to your son?"  
  
    "You're my friend." she declared with an ease that defied reason, though the rest of her words rushed forth in waves of desperation.  "I need you to tell him his Mum's not running around being some lazy bum or a crazed murderer!  He's got some nutty idea that I come home with so much money because I'm robbing and killing people like the damned Dark Brotherhood!  He called me evil, Regina!"  
  
    The slander bounced off Regina's brain but came back to settle along the surface like soup-skin.  "Children can be cruel..."  
  
    It was barely an utterance so unable to stop Emma's tirade.  "And the Thieves Guild!  Let's not even get into that, the poor kid just doesn't understand what's going on!  Somehow bringing home enough to keep us all fed and warm means I'm a bad guy!  I tried talking to him but he just runs off and I don't know what else to do!"  
  
    Regina took the Monk's face in her hands, getting her to stop at last.  She regarded Emma with a look so guarded, it made her want to uncover the why right away.  But her tongue lay still, leaving room for Regina to speak.  "I can...try.   I don't know that he will listen to me but I will try, for you."  
  
    Emma could have kissed her in that moment for no other reason than unadulterated relief but she settled for a smile and a gentle squeeze of the Sorceress' forearms.  "Thank you!"  
  
      
  
      
      
    Just before nightfall, a cadre of people stepped into the firelight.  Emma stopped her armor repairs and blinked at their pale skin and wild orange eyes.  Four in total, they looked upon them as prey.  "Can we help you?" she asked, hoping they weren't as crazy as they looked.  
  
    "Blood!" the woman of their group shrieked, then giggled.  
  
    Regina watched Emma slowly coil a length of leather strap around her right fist.  The deer corpse that would feed them that night yawned open and wide, still.  Emma had long gotten over the fact that royalty knew how to gut and skin a kill.  The breathing of their observers picked up in pace and frenzy.  
  
    Emma pressed her fingertips into the deer's blood, holding them up so they glistened in the firelight.  "This what you want?"  
  
    "Blood!" they screamed, rushing forward in a surge of spindly fingers and dry fangs.  
  
    A Flame Atronach burst into life.  "You just had to..."  
  
    "I usually...kill these guys from...from far off!"  
  
    Fortunately even without the benefit of surprise, Emma found that their bodies broke down quickly.  She was far from any kind of expert but what Regina's flames didn't destroy, Emma's fists took care of.  It was her favorite kind of math.  One of them broke a club over Regina's back, the Sorceress' conjured armor falling away to reveal the thick metal skin she wore daily.  A dark kind of pleasure stirred in her guts when he actually stopped for a moment, throat bobbing.  
  
    "Not very pretty up close, are ya?" Emma chuckled, getting her first Vampire down.  These creatures were desperate, or so it seemed, and they were very, very hungry.  Perhaps they had been locked away for the nails that scrabbled at her curiass were broken and bloody, catching in the chain links and making it very easy for Emma to dispose of her.  
  
    She felt a spell hit her in the back but its touch was soft and momentary as the Atronach ended the caster's life.  The brief throb behind her eyes told her it was a life-draining spell but she felt no weaker and attacked the remaining two with zeal.  
  
    When the dust settled, and the Atronach kindly re-lit their fire, Regina began to paw at Emma's back.  "What was that spell?"  
  
    "H-Hey, knock it off!" Emma batted Regina's hands away, scowling.  "Just some silly life-draining spell."  
  
    "Take the chain mail off." Regina frowned, pushing Emma's hair aside to check any exposed skin for marks.  "We should stop at Bravil and have a priest look you over."    
  
    "I'm not taking anything off!"  She hopped away.  "It causes headaches and slows me down for a few minutes, shove off!"  
  
    Regina did relent, but unwillingly and her dissatisfaction was clear.  
  
    She felt no better when they tucked into the last of the deer and Emma set about getting some sleep.  Her appetite was healthy and her skin flush from battle...she looked normal.  Regina, however, had seen worse happen faster and she volunteered to take the first watch.  When Emma drifted to sleep, Regina moved to sit near her in the hopes of soothing her nerves.  
  
    Emma woke several times within six hours, each brought about with a scream and a physical recoil.  For two, she immediately dropped back into sleep.  One session she drifted off at Regina's touch, no magic required.  The three others she appeared feral, looking like she might pounce on Regina and rip her limb from limb.  
  
    When her turn came, Emma took the second watch with a sort of subdued seriousness that made Regina's sleep equally fitful.  
  
    The next day, Regina woke to the sounds of retching.  
  
    She rolled from the furs, wincing when her armor pinched, and found Emma leaning hard against a tree ten paces off.  "Emma!" she called, not getting so much as a meek wave in reply.  
  
    No doubt half the forest was alerted to their presences with how ungracefully Regina ran and half-staggered, effectively shaking the cobwebs free, and set a hand on the Monk's back.  "Emma, what is it?!"  
  
    It took a few heavy, uncertain breaths but Emma straightened up, wiped her chin, and rolled around to rest her back on the trunk.  She smiled crookedly and it was so her that Regina's worries evaporated for a moment.  "That deer didn't sit too well, I guess."  
  
    Regina's breath shuddered but she covered it with an eye roll.  "Come on, idiot.  I have something to help your stomach and that dragon-breath."  
  
    "You throw up everything you've eaten in the last ten years and tell me how sweet your breath is, princess." Emma groaned.  Her legs felt a little watery and her head ached with a subtle throb that was easy to ignore.  
  
    Regina kept their path close to the river and if Emma noticed, she made no comment.  Bravil loomed on the opposite edge, reminding Regina that beggars couldn't be choosers - at least the Temple would be clean.  If Emma would listen to reason.  
  
    "Are you always this annoying or am I just now seeing a new side?"  
  
    "I'm not saying you're sick, I'm saying we should be sure before you fall over."  
  
    "It's a headache and an upset stomach, Regina.  If that terrified me, I'da never left home."  
  
    "You can't be too careful with Vampires."  
  
    "Know a lot about 'em?"  
  
    But Regina clammed up water-tight after that and Emma was grateful for the silence.  
  
    That night, they pressed on until Emma's headache became a blinding throb, blacking out parts of her vision.  Regina mixed up a tea to help but the Monk had only a few sips before slipping into unconsciousness.  
  
    The Sorceress made up a mild dinner of dried meat and whatever she could scrounge up from between their two packs.  With the use of a mage-light and the one dry patch of shore she could find close to Emma, she cooled her heels in the river and scratched quill across paper; quite taken with the habit of journaling her exploits once she saw how fervently Emma did so.  It helped her identify how far she'd come and eased the worries of the day, made her feel more in control of her destiny.  
  
    Emma groaned, keening and low, and the glowing orb of magic followed Regina back, watched impassively as she tended the Monk.  Emma wrapped her long fingers around her skull as though caught between trying to rip her head apart or keep it together and she burned; almost too hot to touch.  Her skin was bone-dry in spite of the heat.  Water retrieved from the Niben beaded and rolled, drying up all too quickly to do any good.  Regina cursed softly, starting to rise to retrieve more water but held in place by a strong arm that snapped out and wrapped over her thigh.  
  
    "N'guh!  Nuh..." Emma sputtered and strained, wanting for breath and unable to open her eyes. "No...no..."  
  
    Startled, Regina didn't so much as react for a full minute.  Emma whimpered, though, which spurred Regina into motion.  "H-hey, it's okay...shh..."  
  
    Another series of keening whimpers that felt like a heart breaking poured from Emma's lips as she pulled and worked, moving herself an entire six inches before collapsing, limp.  Her forehead was pressed to Regina's bare calves while her breath tickled over the Sorceress' shins, all of it molten and scalding.    
  
    "I told you, idiot..." Regina breathed, throat thick as she pushed sweaty blonde strands behind Emma's exposed ear.  "Why do you keep trying to leave me?"  
  
      
  
    Before dawn, Emma could crack her eyes open but she winced even in the pink-grey of an approaching sun.  Regina's stomach dropped when she saw slivers of orange cutting into bleary green.  No matter the protest, she left Emma with legs that complained at being in one position all night.  Regina stashed their things as best she could, producing a robe Emma had found and joked that it looked like something a Monk aught to wear.  It would cover her head to toe, which was all that mattered now.  
  
    Monks were a living embodiment of raw power and the rewards of training the body to become a weapon.  Strength radiated from them even if they were dressed in modest robes or the thickest of armor.  Unfortunately, when a parasite eats away at that strength, the weapon reverts to a body...and a most uncooperative and floppy one at that.  It took the better part of an hour for Regina to dress Emma and then almost another half to get her off the ground and onto the water.  
  
    "S'deep..." Emma mumbled as they walked across the river.  
  
    "I've got you."  
  
    And Regina did.  Using magical reserves she didn't ever recall having, she abused her ring's power of water walking and her magica's new depth to simply have the strength to carry Emma.  Granted, the Monk did try.  Her steps were ungainly and she often tripped, almost dragging Regina down with her.  
  
    "Hurts..." she whined, ducking her face from the rising dawn's light.  Emma's fingers curled tight but thankfully it took all of her focus to keep moving.  "You're gonna like it..." she breathed out.  
  
    Regina didn't have the strength to laugh.  She pulled Emma close, keeping her eyes on Bravil as it grew closer by the step.  "Almost there..."  
  
    "Yaaay."  
  
  
  
    Regina woke to the feeling of fingers in her hair.  As she last remembered being on her feet and alert between the Chapel and its Hall, prayers on her lips, she jerked upright in alarm.  To see Emma staring back at her, sweaty and flush but not at all pale like a Vampire, Regina drew a hearty gasp of happiness that quickly burned up in fury.  "Don't you ever do that to me again!!" she raged, swatting the Monk's skull.  
  
    "Regiiinaaaaa..." Emma moaned, burrowing into the bedding and covering her still-aching head.  
  
    "Of course I was _right_ , you stubborn old _ORC_!!  Next time I say you're sick you'd best listen to me or I'll leave you in the wilderness to become a bloodsucker!"

    Emma, heartened by the display of odd affection, peeked a brilliant and deep green eye out of the covers.  "I would find you and feed on you."  
  
    A pillow came slamming down on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so bloody mad at myself when I inadvertently let Regina become a Vampire! I know I kept thinking 'temple, temple, get to a temple' but then I console'd my way to a rescue. So why does Emma almost bite the Vampiric bullet? 'Cause she's Emma and would have issues accepting help if she was dangling from a cliff by a finger, ergo, Drama! Polyphoric Hemophilia takes 3 days to manifest, fyi.
> 
> Next chapter I believe, we'll meet the village. For any fellow map-nerds, I've placed this fantastical village atop Black Dog Camp.


	9. What Makes a Hero

    By the blessings of Mara, the duo lost only two days, though the second was more Emma eating everything in sight.  Being deathly ill apparently kicked her stomach into high-gear and Regina was left slightly green at the groaning tables full of food Emma could consume.    
  
    Then the Monk had the audacity to swallow down a large breakfast.  
  
    "That can't possibly be good for you."  
  
    Emma swallowed the last of her ham steak and slapped her palms against her rock-solid, barely distended, stomach.  "Hm, a little walking, some sun, and I'll be ready for lunch!"  
  
    "I'm sure there is some Divine precept that says you shouldn't eat like a Troll."  
  
    In such a fine mood, Emma jutted her jaw out, puffed her cheeks, and hunched forward, walking in uncanny mimicry of a Troll.  She began to swing her arms and Regina pressed a hand to her forehead, eyes rolling shut.  
  
    "I don't know you."  
  
    "Oh, speaking of!  I never did tell you about the twelve strikes!"  
  
    "Ah, that's the glaring hole in my education."  
  
    Emma scratched her cheek with two fingers.  "Well, the first one a Monk learns is the Mudcrab."  
  
    Just when she thought it couldn't get worse.  "People actually consider it an honor to leave children in these institutions?"  
  
    "The humble, stupid Mudcrab," Emma continued on with a scowl, "is a good lesson in hiding and scuttling.  It teaches children how to get out of the way quickly."  
  
    Regina gave it a few heartbeats, biting words down until she reached, "Are you going to demonstrate?"  
  
    "No." was the immediate, flat response.  
  
    "A bashful Monk?  Color me surprised."  
  
    Emma was, in fact, blushing ever so.  "I...I wasn't a child when I started learning.  All the Masters and Journeymen had great _fun_ teaching me.  I've had enough of that embarrassment for a lifetime, thank you."  
  
    "Do you teach your son?"  
  
    "...that's different."  
  
    "Oh."  
  
    "He already thinks I'm a fool."  
  
    Sure laughter was not the appropriate response, Regina nodded and swallowed hard.  "Does he have any aspirations?  A healer, perhaps?"  
  
    Emma pulled on her rucksack's straps.  "I don't know."  
  
    "How old is he?"  
  
    "Can we stop talking about him?"  
  
    Regina blinked but nodded.  "Okay."  She grasped at straws for a minute.  "Oh, what is the next move?"  
  
    "The Deer.  Learning to be as fast and light of foot."  
  
    "Sounds fun."  
  
    "It can be.   I was jumping every day for about six months and almost forgot how to walk."  
  
    Regina's snicker could not be contained.  
  
    But Emma took no offense and didn't blush.  She smiled in fond memory.  "Next is the Turtle...but that one's not so fun."  
  
    "How's that?"  
  
    "Eh, you curl up into a ball as tight as you can while they beat the Oblivion out of your back.  After a while you stop feeling much of anything."  
  
    She was joking but Regina's horrified look made it worthwhile.  
  
  
  
    It meant, unfortunately, that she had to endure quite the lecture when the truth was revealed.  On the shore of the Niben, Emma took her dues with borderline-yawns and the occasional nod of her head.  She wasn't really listening but rather staring across the water where the shore waited, a bit hazy at this distance.  All the things that awaited her, good and bad, crowded together in her mind, making Regina the white noise in between, but it wasn't until she was jerked forward by the Kvatch standard that she realize how irritated the Sorceress was.  "Erm, sorry..." Emma tried her best sheepish grin.  
  
    "All I have to do is stop touching you in the middle of this bay and you're dead, Miss Swan."  
  
    Emma lifted her left hand, where a silver band glittered.  "Remember the Slaughterfish scales?  Guy's ring has water breathing shined on it."  
  
    "Then I suppose you can walk on the bottom, can't you?"  
  
    She clapped Regina's hand down, sealing it against her chest and just to the right of her heart.  The Sorceress was blushing for some reason.  "I said I'm sorry.  I just haven't been home in a few months and it's catching up to me."  
  
    "You'd do well to keep your daydreaming on the shore."  
  
    Green eyes rolled.  She'd tried.  Emma lifted her hand, fully expecting to be dumped in the water, however it came her turn to blush when Regina's hand slipped up, around Emma's shoulder, and under her arm to lightly clasp her elbow.  She lifted a brow.  
  
    "I'm not dragging you the rest of the way.  Your legs work perfectly fine now."  
  
    "Ah."  Emma straightened up a bit and held her right arm crooked as they continued walking.  
  
    Without the strain of supporting another person, the walk across the Niben Bay was made in half the time and shore was struck at the Mouth of the Panther.  Emma wanted to stop and pick around some of the shipwrecks but Regina, in spite of earlier protests, tugged her back on course.  "We're almost there, you're not going to delay any further."  
  
    Had she been?  Emma liked to explore and poke her head into old ruins to see what made them tick or what she could take away.  Was that her putting off going home?  Was it when she stopped to help someone with a Goblin War?  Probably, if her lead feet were any indication.  The closer they came, the heavier her heart.  It had been quite some time.  
  
    As they came around the Panther River's first bend, Regina snapped her fingers, spawning her latest favorite to life.  Emma cocked a brow.  "Uh...what's with the friend-on-fire?"  
  
    "I saw something move.  Looked pretty fast."  
  
    Oh no.  Worry gnawed at Emma's gut.  "Er, maybe put the toy away?  We should be safe all along this river."  
  
    "Atronachs are not toys." she huffed.  "I'm not sending her off until I know for sure."  
  
    "Her?" Emma sighed, striding around the Sorceress and further out into the open.  She gave it a minute before raising her arms, letting them flop back to her sides.  "See?  Nothing here."  
  
    Regina's eyes widened to the point of comedy just as Emma felt a familiar presence behind her.  She glanced back to confirm - yep, a wall of black fur.  "Regina, don--!"  
  
    Too late for that, Atronach and Mistress were already laying down fire.  Emma turned her back in the foolish hope of blocking the dual attack and found herself swallowed in black fur.  The beast rolled away from her and Emma scrambled up after.  "Don't!  Gods, stop!"  
  
    She saw the second mountain of black slinking closer from the trees and pumped her legs all the faster, diving into the first Werewolf to knock her off course.  There wasn't a moment to rest, however, as those months of practice, and the ensuing years after, kicked in and Emma made a running leap, gathering Regina and rolling her out of the second Werewolf's surprise attack lunge.  "Stay _down_!" she barked, huddled protectively over Regina with her head snapping around, looking for their attackers.  
  
    The Atronach had vanished and in the approaching evening's ocher light, the Werewolves stalking towards them, black eyes gleaming, looked as though they'd just stepped from Hircine's plane.  Regina tensed underneath her and Emma distractedly stroked the side of her face, palm coming to rest at the Sorceress' jaw.  "It's alright!" Emma hollered, eyes locked on the monsters that were now stopped and studying them.  "She's a friend!"  
  
    What sounded like a derisive snort sounded from Werewolf two and the beasts shared a silent conversation before shivering and shrinking down, becoming smaller and less furry until they became much friendlier forms.  The first was a leggy Imperial decked out in deep reds, her eyes bright and sharp.  The second devolved to a strangely narrow-faced Nord man, all lanky limbs and dark features.    
  
    The red one spoke up first, her voice so friendly that a full-body shiver ripped down Regina's spine.  That was the warm grin of a predator before the death blow.  "Haven't seen you around these parts for half the year, Ems."  
  
    "I've just been off with the usual.  Saving the world, that sort of thing."  
  
    "We heard some crazy Monk had gone in and bareknuckled an Oblivion Gate shut." the man chuckled, offering a hand.  
  
    Emma accepted only to offer her own to Regina, pleased when she grasped her hand.  "This is Regina, my partner in Gate-closing.  Regina, this is Ruby and that's Graham."  
  
    Regina looked between them, spying matching looks at forced amicability backed by guarded, wary tension.  Imagining blood, horror, claws, and cold fangs, she still pushed her hand forward.  "I can't say I've spoken to Werewolves before.  Pleased to meet you..."  
  
    Ruby shook amicably while Graham gathered her knuckles close to his lips, but did not kiss them.    
  
    "The honor is mine, princess."  
  
    She recoiled as though burned, not even flinching when Emma set an arm just before her in unconscious defense.  "Who are you?!" Regina barked.  If there was a drop of desperate fear poisoning her regal tone, no one mentioned it.  
  
    He cocked his head.  "You have my name, highness.  I trust Emma is holding your secret?"  
  
    "Here I thought I was the only one." Emma offered lightly to try and break the tension, failing flat.  "How do you know her, Graham?"  
  
    Regina's eyes challenged and yet begged him all the same.  Don't say too much.  Don't be a threat.  Please, please, please don't say her name!  He drew a deep breath.  "I was in the employ of your Father, briefly, before I traded hands to your Mother.  My duties were far more...complicated, then.  You released me, though I look quite different now."  
  
    He pulled up his sleeves, exposing long-term wrist scarring from something that had constantly rubbed and pinched the skin.  Regina tried to imagine him without the scruffy beard, being even thinner and with bruises; sitting on his knees or lying down.  Recognition came slow and sour.  Gods, how she had suffered for her act of kindness!  "Far healthier, to be certain."  
  
    Graham seemed pleased she remembered and bounced lightly on his toes.  "Well, shall we go?  We can get the Lady settled and fed.  Emma, I believe your parents are still making too many portions."  
  
    "I've seen this appetite at work.  They must go broke on food alone."  
  
    "Regina!" Emma whined, flinching when Ruby snickered and poked her in the ribs.  "Alright!  Jeez, let's just...come on!"  
  
    There were no roads leading into the village but their guides seemed powered by instinct, striding a few confident paces ahead of the heroes.  Emma's keen night vision came in handy when darkness settled in without a single moon to show.  
  
    Hand tucked into the crook of Emma's elbow, the better to ensure she didn't walk into a tree or burrow, Regina studied the pair ahead of them with a subtle frown.  "Are they not controlled by the cycles of the moons?"  
  
    Emma chuckled.  "Those two aren't.  They've got a good handle on the wolf inside."  
  
    "Are there more?"  
  
    "If I remember right there's two more...but they choose to be locked up at night.  One was cursed with it, the other went out and sought it but didn't realize the cost."  
  
    "And these two?" she nodded ahead.  
  
    A shrug.  "They've been wolves as long as I've known them and perfectly happy, though maybe that's the secret."  
  
    "Being happy?"  
  
    She nodded slowly.  "Or maybe its just that they know that here, they're not alone."  
  
    That could have been it, even more so than being happy they knew they were safe.  Ruby gave Graham a shove and he staggered, laughing and rubbing at his arm.  Then Ruby began to run ahead and Regina saw the flicker of torches in the distance.  The baying and barking of wolves sounded next and as they closed in on the torches, Regina saw a wriggling mass of fur that was a pack of wolves surrounding Ruby with puppy yips and slobbery kisses.  
  
    The pack split when Graham was noticed though a few ran up to Emma, jumping around her and sniffing eagerly at Regina.  They were Timber Wolves, Regina realized from their sheer size, and each a puppy in beasts' clothing.  Emma relaxed her arm and dropped into a squat, growling through her teeth.  Several wolves twitched, stretching their forearms out and wagging their tails high as they waited...waited...  
  
    Emma burst upright to attack the nearest and excited yips and barks, and wolves running around as though crazed, made it all seem very...warm.  A crazy sort of comfortable warm that was family and home.  A cold nose pressed into each of her hands and Regina glanced down, surprised to see two wolves regarding her with what seemed somber expressions.  They took a seat and leaned into her legs when she tentatively scratched between their ears.    
  
    She went to take a knee, the better to pet them, when Graham jogged up.  "Ah, I wouldn't do that, majesty."  How strange that the honorific sounded so horrible from his lips!  "These are wolves as wild as they come.  To them, Ruby is the lead bitch and so they leave the rest of us alone...better to not kneel down and make them question the status-quo."  
  
    Emma yelped some ten meters off, laughing as she was buried in wolves.  
  
    Regina looked her way but made no move away from the wolves that had claimed her.  "Why do you call me that?"  
  
    "By your title?" he clarified.  "It is who you are, majesty, and if I may, it fits far better than your Mother's crown ever has."  
  
    The depths of her dark eyes flared up for a heartbeat, guttering when he correctly understood the threat and stepped back.  "Do not speak of her.  Do not call me anything but my name.  That life is done."  
  
    "I have no doubts of that." he grinned boyishly, eyes combing over the dented steel armor and roughed up rucksack.  "There are still a few things I have from my old life, though they may suit your new life better.  I will see about making them fit."  
  
    "I don't need gifts."  
  
    "Then a trade." Graham looked to the wolves at her sides.  "You've managed to tame the moodiest, most snap-tempered wolves we have.  I'd say that deserves payment."  
  
    "I was just...standing here..." she offered lamely.  The wolves didn't move when she reclaimed her hands.  In fact, they regarded Graham as though he were beneath them and Regina cocked a brow at the thought.  
  
    Emma chose that moment to run up to them, flush and mused even worse than usual.  "Oh, hey!  You made some new friends!"  
  
    Graham smiled at the word 'friends'.  The princess he'd known had none and acted as though it were a foreign concept.  Regina's own smile was uncertain as she looked to the wolves, their tongues lolling out as she began to scratch at their ears again.  "Yes, now I have friends that can wash themselves."  
  
    "You can't play with dogs without getting at least a little dirty!"  
  
    "Says the woman carrying half of Nirn's earth in her hair."  
  
    "Oh yuck.  And not true!"  
  
    Regina approached and plucked several leaves and blades of grass from the blonde strands.  "Half of Nirn." she tisked.  
  
    "Good thing our baths are in working order." Ruby chirped, tugging on Emma's arm.  "Let's go already."  
  
    "Oh Gods, Ruby, look at that.  Now you'll never get her to leave!"  
  
    Emma flinched away when Regina kicked at her legs.  
  
  
    All told there was an unusually large inn, a completely separate tap house, about twelve houses ringing those, and a smattering of farms spread along and over the Panther River.  A tiny dock area indicated how little trade was done by water, if it was done at all.  It reminded Regina of Killian, which made her snerk.  How the Captain would react trying to get his floating hotel down the bendy river only to see such a pithy dock!  
  
    "He still mad at me?"  
  
    "What do you think?"  
  
    Emma sighed.  "I think he gets his ability to hold a grudge from his grandfather."  
  
    "Get in there."  Ruby patted her friend's shoulder in sympathy before turning to Regina and smiling.  "So, we hold your secret, you keep out of trouble."  
  
    "Well I am traveling with Emma." she hedged.  
  
    The reward was Ruby's laughter and an embrace that Regina returned awkwardly.  "Ha!  I like her.  You should keep this one."  
  
    "She's not a damned pet, Rubes." Emma rolled her eyes and pushed open the inn door.  
  
    Regina followed slightly behind her more so because Emma's frame took up the space and while conversation didn't stop dead, people did double-take.  They looked between the haggard Monk and the curiass that was showing its wear and were making connections faster than blinking.  A few people left their chairs to approach Emma, shaking her hand or hugging her.  She dealt with it on a remote level, Regina could tell, with eyes that didn't stop moving, moving, until they spied a small figure huddled between two larger.    
  
    Emma cut through the room, inadvertently leaving Regina behind.    
  
    Envy caught in Regina's throat to see how quickly and easily Emma was absorbed back into the fold.  The villagers mundane concerns fell to the wayside at the mere sight of her and their voices rose in excited discourse of her rumored adventures.  A few eyes flicked towards, or settled on, the Sorceress but they were dark and distrustful, jaded.  
  
    So Regina pawed through the contents of her rucksack to avoid the suspicious eyes.  She made a mental list of things that would need to be restocked or repaired and shifted things around that could be sold come morning.  Her fingers grazed her waterproof-skin-wrapped journal and like a shock spell, her spine straightened up.  Thoughts of how far she'd come pushed aside the uncertain girl standing in the doorway of a foreign inn.  Regina closed the bag, set her chin, and strode through the crowd much as she had seen Emma do.  
  
    She arrived at a very heated, and stinging, "You're a liar."  
  
    The table of adults balked and chided the child in their midst.  Regina was shocked to see Emma immediately deflate, picking at the Kvatch standard and frowning at the wolf's head graphic.  Divines help her, she looked like she might even start crying!  An odd feeling bubbled in Regina's chest and she clamped a hand on the boy's shoulder, gaining the attention and silence of the entire table.  Steadily the rest of the inn joined the thick pall of tension.  
  
    Earth-brown eyes looked up at her in a mix of defiance, anger, fear, and hurt.  Regina's eyes narrowed ever so.  "That is hardly the thing to call the Hero of Kvatch, boy."  
  
    "Who're you?" the man on his right growled.  
  
    Regina ignored him pointedly, using her free hand to slap Emma in the gut, getting her attention and her back to straighten.  "I watched her boldly step into certain death and bring Daedra of all sizes to their knees.  Dremora Commanders trembled at her approach and lesser demons fled in fear."  
  
    "How do you know?" the boy demanded, sullen but with brighter eyes than before.  
  
    Regina reclaimed her hand, setting it on her hip.  "I walked the world of Oblivion with her, child, and I tell you now, she is a Hero."  
  
  
  
  
    Henry, as Regina learned he was called, was inseperable from her side since that moment.  Almost until the moment he passed out from sheer exhaustion did he ask question after question, agog and with his mouth frequently hung open; looking between Regina and Emma as though to have the Monk confirm what he was being told.  Emma, arms folded up tight, leaned back against the wall for much of the night, bearing a wide smile.  
  
    Not even the awkward, somewhat stiff meeting with her parents had the power to dull her grin.  Nor could her Mother's concern, or the extreme worry that followed Emma's 'I'm not hungry', broke her bubble of happiness.  For the first time in a year, half of which Emma had been gone for, Henry was smiling.  Her Father lingered for a while but understood that Emma was in no place to deal with their questions so let her be.  
  
    That just left the rest of the inn and while they hadn't warmed up to Regina right away, her vivid descriptions and bardic narrative brought more than Henry's ears to the table.  So en rapt, Regina didn't notice the rest of her audience until Emma scooped Henry up.  Her reaction to their wide eyes and gawking was to blush and rise, clearing her throat.  "I guess I can continue the rest tomorrow."  
  
    A collective breath, and some grumbles of discontent, saw the patrons back to their tables though most were already shuffling for the door.  Outside, Emma breathed deep of the cool air and smirked at Regina.  "Boldly stepped into certain death?  As I recall, I ended up chasing you."  
  
     Regina rubbed at her ears, the skin hot and bright.  "A little twist of the details, nothing more."  
  
    "I especially liked the bit about Dremora fleeing in terror of me.  I'm not that dirty."  
  
    The Sorceress snorted but saved her giggles.  They walked between two homes and around to a more quiet, smaller set of dwellings.  Emma paused at a non-descript door and sighed, smiling ruefully.  "Thanks.  For tonight...y'know."  
  
    "I didn't have to lie." Regina reminded her, glancing to Henry.  "I think you haven't been telling him the full truth, though."  
  
    "He doesn't need to know about me killing people for gold in the Arena."  
  
    "But maybe he does know?" she offered, anxiety stirring in her gut.  "Maybe that's why he is so angry with you."  
  
    "And maybe you should be a Bard instead of a Sorceress." came the defensive snap.  "Running circles around the 'what ifs' doesn't fix anything."  
  
    "Why are you mad at me?  I did as you asked."  Her anxiety flared.  
  
    Emma closed her eyes, shifting Henry in her arms before opening them again.  "I'm not mad."  
  
    Regina wished to retort but had to settle for following as Emma stepped back into the small home.  The walls were stone but the roof a simple thatch and the floor compose of packed dirt.  Home-made toys of varying craftsmanship littered the space where simple furniture wasn't sitting.  A basic double bed dominated one corner and it was there that Emma set Henry, tucking him under the fur covers with great care.  
  
    "You must love him so much."  
  
    Emma turned but Regina was clearly a thousand miles off so she folded her arms defensively.  For the first time in her life, she looked at what she had and felt the stirrings of shame.  Why hadn't she done more to build this place up?  Wait...why did she even have to worry about it?  Let the princess go back to her palace if she was so disgusted!  Shame gave way to anger and for that, Emma skulked outside once more.  
  
    Regina trailed yet again, confused and edging on upset.  "What's wrong?"  
  
    She wanted to punch that pretty little face but stomped down the urge with a cold hand.  "You'll have to stay at the inn.  I only have the one bed."  
  
    Obviously.  Regina swallowed around a lump of nerves.  "Where do we go from here?"  
  
    Really?  Emma rolled her eyes and stepped around Regina.  "Good night, _princess_."  
  
    She winced and withdrew to lick at her wounds.  What once soothed was suddenly sour and she wondered...what had she done so wrong?


	10. Simple Pleasures

    Come morning, Emma had slept all of two hours.  
  
    After letting her insecurities take huge chunks out of her soul, Emma had tossed and turned and struggled with herself until she left the bed and shuffled around the single-room dwelling, picking up toys and clothes.  While she was in-residence she kept a fairly tidy abode but it seemed leaving Henry as the 'man of the house' left something to be desired.  However it was also something convenient and easy to focus on and focus she did.  By the time she had absolutely nothing left to clean, her home practically sparkled.  
  
    No doubt Regina had a legion of servants and maids to help tend her homes, even the most modest.  What she'd heard of Royals had confused Emma when they began traveling together.  Regina was fastidious to a fault, right down to having her bag arranged a certain way, though perhaps that was a personality quirk rather than her upbringing.  
  
    Emma passed out when the grey pre-dawn light trickled in through her windows and no matter how light a sleeper, unlike Regina's impersonation of the dead, Henry still managed to sneak over her, change, pick through her rucksack, and leave the house undetected.  Serious thought was devoted to the idea of closing the windows and forgetting the damned day but Henry was going to find her eventually, no matter how much they were at odds, and Emma would rather have breakfast before her parents pegged her with a thousand questions.  
  
    She went about getting dressed ragdoll-style, pulling on anything clean that was within arm's reach; meaning her boots, greaves, and a simple lace-up grey linen shirt.  
      
    The sunlight that stabbed the back of her eyes did not improve her mood and she hunched over, speaking to none on her way to the inn.  Granny's was the cultural gathering point of their little clutch and where other villages or towns would have a market, people brought the majority of their farmed goods to Granny's, where she in turn fed them for free.  Emma's parents helped her out, as did a few others, between teaching sessions or other work and it was rank with a harmony that Emma missed while in the larger cities.  
  
    "Well, good morning to you too."  
  
    Emma blinked.  So lost in thought, she'd almost run Charming down.  "Oh...morning Da."  
  
    He smiled in his standard benevolent way.  Years ago, Emma had made sport of drawing out the anger in him, doing everything wrong, and then worse, until his legendary cool was lost.  To her relief later in life, he'd been quick to forgive.  "Did you and Henry fight again?"  
  
    "No."  
  
    He knew better than to touch her when she was like this but the urge to 'hug it out' was clear in his eyes.  "Okay...go and see your Mother.  She's helping Granny."  
  
    "As always."  
  
    Snow's temper was much more fickle and Charming had been duped into being their daughter's shield more than a few times.  Emma had been terrified of nothing more than her mother for ages for even when Snow was absolutely blue-in-the-face-angry, she loved and that love (and the disappointments unspoken) hurt worse than anything she could say.  The villagers looked up to her for her qualities of benevolence and strength and the simple knowing that should a threat arise, she would be first in line to fight it.  
  
    Unfortunately Emma had received more than her fair share of the liquid temperament than Charming's steady burn and it often led to cold arguments where the Monk always imagined it would be their final fight.  Snow would cast her out forever.  
  
    But it never was the last fight.  There was always forgiveness to be had for family.  Snow had said as much but Emma couldn't quite wrap her heart around the idea, no matter how much she wanted to.  Observing from the kitchen doorway, a smile tugged at Emma's lips.  Granny, far past her prime but still lithe enough to bark orders and throw around heavy pots of boiling water, swept around the kitchen with two children tailing her - Hansel and Gretel.  They had grown much in Emma's absence and each was hauling a basket of vegetables; eager to help for the treats that would reward their efforts later.  
  
    Emma could smell said treats baking even then; cookies and cakes.  If Regina could be bought with sweetrolls from city bakeries, she wondered exactly what the Sorceress would do at the temptation of fresh, warm, sweetcakes from Granny's kitchen.  Taking a deep breath, Emma stepped into the chaos.  "Good morning, Granny."  
  
    The elder stopped cold and snapped her head around so fast, something must have popped.  "Arkay take me!  You _are_ back!"  
  
    Emma chuckled and accepted the hug that was forced on her, returning it warmly.  "I can't kick over without at least one more dessert."  
  
    "Bah!  Go help your mother, churl!  She's set out to kill herself with those sacks of grains!"  
  
    Ah, that was why she wasn't in the kitchen.  Emma stepped through cautiously, patting Gretel's head and trading a few fake blows with Hansel, until she was behind the inn where an old stable had been converted to food storage.  There, Snow was hauling bags of grain from a cart and Emma stretched her arms up high as she approached, spine cracking into place and improving her mood enough to catch her mother in a hug.  "Morning."  
  
    "Emma!" Snow startled, turning to return the hug properly.  "Did you see your father this morning?"  
  
    "I did.  Carrying an axe."  
  
    "Yes, he's off to gather some firewood for the inn hearth."  
  
    "I owe him a hug."  
  
    Snow rolled her eyes but smiled.  "You need to figure out which is the right side of the bed, young lady."  
  
    Emma sniffed derisively and, just to be a boastful jerk, took a bag of grain with each hand, hauling them onto her shoulders with too much ease.  "He gets it, though."  
  
    "I know he does...we've just missed you so much.  You said you were going to the arena to bring in some gold, which is cause enough for worry, but then you don't come home for months!"  
      
    "I got distracted." she hedged.  
  
    "By Regina?"  
  
    There was so much more to that innocuous question than Emma wanted to answer.  She grabbed another bag, just one this time, and sighed while hauling it over.  "Sort of."  
  
    "It sounded like quite a bit more than 'sort of'.  What were you thinking, walking into an Oblivion Gate and then continuing on even after she followed you?!"  
  
    Emma snorted, leaning against the cart for a minute while her laughter broke out in a stress-relieving burst.  "Oh, Ma... _she's_ the one that went in first.  I went in after her to make sure she didn't get herself killed!"  
  
    "But...she said..."  
  
    "She twisted the truth." she quoted, tasting something bitter as she recalled the terse dialog after that.  "I was going to just run and let Kvatch handle Kvatch problems but...Regina, she looked at that Gate and there was something so..." a sigh.  "She looked sad, almost.  Like she knew she was going to die but she went anyway.  No one should die like that.  Not alone and not even in Oblivion."  
  
    Snow pulled another bag of grain while she chewed on her thoughts.  When it was settled, she returned to the cart, where Emma had not moved.  "She's not just a Sorceress, is she?"  
  
    Emma grabbed the last two sacks of grain as though her life depended on it, hauling them with purpose.  "Where is Henry?  I thought he would be trying to trip up Granny by now."  
  
    Snow seemed to pale, coming ever so closer to her namesake.  "Oh...you didn't know?  He and Regina were both up early.  They went walking along the river."  
  
    Emma was gone before the sentence was completed.  
  
  
  
    "Night-crawlers are really the best but we don't get lots of them until it rains."  
  
    "Many of them." Regina corrected softly, watching Henry bait his hook while her guts squirmed.  "Don't you need a boat?"  
  
    "A boat?" Henry laughed, casting the line.  "Nah.  The river's not really big enough.  I can swim all the way across and back without drowning!" he crowed proudly.  
  
    Regina immediately knew it was something he shouldn't have been doing but she let it slide.  "You must be strong, like your mother."  
  
    His expression clouded over and he bounced the line with intense focus.  "Ma doesn't let me do anything fun like that."  Dark eyes brightened and Henry leaned in conspiratorially.  "Me an' Hansel an' August have a club, the Bog Boys, and we do all kinds of stuff we're not supposed to."  
  
    "Really?" she smirked, not even bothering to correct his grammar.  "Like what?"  
  
    "Top secret!" he announced with a laugh.  Regina puffed out a sigh of exasperation, swinging her heels in idle, as she watched Henry do.  To her expectation, which she was careful not to smile about, Henry poked her leg.  "We don't let girls into the club but you seem okay.  You have to take the super-secret, mega-dangerous initiation test t'get in, though."  
  
    "I can pass any test." she sniffed.  
  
    "None of the girls here can do it!" he informed her with just as much bravado.  
  
    "Is your mother in the club?"  
  
    "No way, she's a girl!" Henry giggled, bobbing the line a few more times.  
  
    "But I'm a girl."  
  
    "You're special." he mumbled, blushing.  
  
    Regina had the uncanny urge to cuddle the boy like a stuffed animal, he was just that damned cute.  Instead, she swung her heels again, letting them thunk back against the tiny dock.  "So when do I take this test?"  
  
    "Initiation." he clarified, perking upright once more.  "When we get back I'll talk to the guys and we'll get together t'night.  We usually meet at midnight, behind the stables 'cause when we met _in_ the stables Hansel almost got a leg broken by one of the horses."  
  
    "I see." was the grave reply even if Regina cringed at the thought.  
  
    " _Henry_!"  
  
    "Uh-oh." it was Henry's turn to wince.  
  
    Regina was far more calm about it, turning to regard Emma as she stormed down the steps to them.  Much of the Panther cut through steep terrain and it seemed the people built steps and small docks, though to what purpose eluded Regina for certainly it couldn't be the fishing.  "Good morning to you, too."  
  
    "What are you doing out here?" she snapped, her heels making solid contact with the small dock and making it seem all the smaller.  "You know you shouldn't be out this far from the village!"  
  
    "I went with her!" he whined defensively.  "She's way nice and super strong like you!"  His eyes lit up and the fishing pole was cast aside as he gained his feet on the dock, arms waving.  "Before, she made a Flame Atronach dance on the water, Ma!  Can you believe it?!"  
  
    Hard green eyes, chips of emerald, snapped over to Regina, who had the grace to duck her head ever so.  "Yeah...she's got some strong magic, kid.  Get back home."  
  
    "By myself?" his eyes shined hopefully.  
  
    Emma stroked his hair - it hadn't even been combed down from the sleep-shocked look.  "By now, Grandma's probably a few steps behind me.  Go on."  
  
    "Al-right." he agreed dramatically.  "Bye Regina!"  
  
    Regina hadn't bothered to rise and for good reason.  Emma plopped down beside her, taking over Henry's spot.  "You're even more mad at me now."  
  
    "I'm not _mad_." she growled out.  "I'm...petty."  
  
    "Care to explain?"  
  
    Emma toed at the water for a quiet minute, the peace as soothing as it was false.  "What'd you think of my home?" she mumbled, unfairly tossing the ball back to Regina's court.  
  
    The game was clear, though, and Regina had battled far better in it.  "I think Henry is happy there."  
  
    Damn.  Emma squirmed.  "It really hit me last night how...how little I have to offer him.  Small wonder he's so pissed at me all the time when he doesn't even have a floor in his own home.  A-and it got me thinking about what you must be thinking; where you'd come from.  Henry would be so much better off in that sort of world, with floors and rooms and soft beds.  He'd have books and toys that weren't broken and teachers for anything that he wanted."  
  
    "But he would have no one to talk to." Regina interrupted.  "He wouldn't be allowed to mix with those of other castes or have true friends or...or be able to take a person fishing and trust that they weren't out to kill him.  He would be surrounded by walls, towers, guards, and servants yet be more alone than ever."  
  
    Emma blinked, treading lightly.  "I was just thinking of a nicer house but...I can see where you're coming from."  
  
    Thankfully, Regina laughed.  The Monk had no idea what Regina came from, how far she'd willingly fallen.  But that was okay.  Emma didn't press and the Sorceress didn't feel trapped.  "I'm not saying a floor or another room would hurt, though..."  
  
    "Ah-ah, princess.  Insult my architectural skill and I'd have to eat this all by myself.  In front of you."  
  
    Emma produced a perfectly baked collection of smells that set Regina's mouth to watering.  The paper surrounding the cake was unwrapped and it only got worse.  She swallowed.  "What is _that_?"  
  
    One day, the Monk would have to ask her about her fascination with sweets.  For then, Emma simply took her amusement where she could and produced a table knife, offering it hilt-first.  "This is a sweetcake.  But no ordinary cake.  This is Granny's own special recipe.  Nowhere else in Tamriel will you find it."  
  
    Regina's eyes snapped up sharply, suspicion narrowing her features.  "What is it for?"  
  
    A sheepish grin was her answer.  "I, uh...well, just in case things went really, horribly awful and I ended up begging.  I mean, I almost had fingers broken stealing this from her kitchen!  I thought it might win me a sympathy vote..."  
  
    The knife was claimed and a slice cut away neatly.  Regina breathed in the sweet scent, giving Emma sidelong look.  "It's worth a few broken fingers?"  
  
    "Totally."  
  
    Melt-on-your-tongue goodness drew a small sound of deep pleasure from Regina's throat at the first taste.  She blushed but Emma didn't make comment.  After the first two slices, the Sorceress managed to not inhale the cake, taking her time and chewing like a normal humanoid.  Emma only took exception when Regina began to cut into her half, though she eventually broke down and gave Regina a third.  
  
    When there were only crumbs left, and a sparse few at that, Emma dropped backwards, stretching her arms out wide.  "So deadly..." she groaned.  
  
    "Seriously?" Regina balked.  "You can eat half the food of Bravil but a sweetcake gets you?"  
  
    "The World's Greatest Sweetcake." Emma lifted a finger to accentuate her point.  "And I was coming back from death, at the time."  
  
    "When you actually die, I'm sure it will be from over stuffing your gob." she sighed, the snark lacking any real venom.  The sun had moved ever so during their brunch interlude, casting the dock in shadows that pulled at her eyelids.  She decided to mimic her friend, lying back on the minute dock, though a yawn escaped her.  
  
    "Sleepy?" Emma muttered, though it sounded as though she were almost asleep herself.  
  
    The back of Regina's head made contact with Emma's elbow so she turned her head to the side.  "Didn't sleep well last night."  
  
    "Yeah?" she yawned widely.  "Neither did I."  
  
      
  
  
    When first she'd arrived in Cyrodiil, she had been operating off of Rocinante's near-endless endurance and what gold her father had pushed into her hands before ushering her out and away from a life not her own.  Words like 'friend' and 'safe' became more foreign than ever before while 'need' rather than 'want' became her mantra.  Only a few days were spent in Bruma, it was familiar and the Nords generally understood her, but it was much too close to Skyrim.  So she had left, but a day's ride out and she ran into a full encampment of bandits.  
  
    Life came at the cost of immeasurable suffering.  
  
    'Comfort' left her zone of understanding and every face was frightening.  The waking world was exhausting and painful but she could hardly sleep for the fear that someone would happen upon her in the night. It took precious time but she remembered hard-taught lessons as a girl in finding the small places, the niches and cracks in the world where she could tuck herself away from sight.  Only then could she find any sort of rest.  
  
    The promise of a pile of gold for the death of a few bandits seemed too good to be true; the Divines only knew how much Regina wanted to destroy every bandit on Nirn.  Then there was Emma and a bounty of gold too good to be true followed by betrayal.  Backwards of her expectations, friendship blossomed from the ashes and Emma had yet to default on her promises.  Regina was alive, very well fed, and for the first time, she felt truly safe.  
  
    "C'mon, princess.  Up and at it."  
  
    "No." she huffed, her fingers closing around her pillow.  
  
    Her very soft pillow that wasn't there at all when she fell asleep on the dock.  
  
    Regina was bright red before she gasped and shot upright, almost leaping away from Emma.  The Monk yawned widely and scratched at her head, bracing herself on her hands.  "Well that was a good nap."  
  
    The Sorceress started to relax.  She was over thinking things, surely.    
  
    "You're awful cuddly when you're asleep."  
  
    Of course, Regina should have known better.  Her blush burned all the brighter while she wished for the ground to open up and swallow her.    
  
    Emma bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, deciding to cut her friend some slack.  "Funny thing is, I'm not really a cuddling person but it's nice, y'know?  I don't mind it."  
  
    "It won't happen again." she snapped, arms wrapped around herself as though the entrapment would actually stop anything.  
  
    Emma shrugged, letting it go.  "Graham came by.  Dropped a few things off if you want to get out of your armor for a bit.  I think the clothes are from Ruby, though."  
  
    Regina looked back to the neatly folded stack of clothing and towels accompanied by a bowl with what she assumed was soap and smaller rags for washing.  No oils, no perfumes, not one scrap of silk, nothing that would suggest that Graham had once lived in the lap of near-luxury.  "Are they together?"  
  
    She watched Regina poke through the offerings.  "I don't know the rules of Werewolf living but when they're not furry, I think they're just friends."  
  
    "In Skyrim, they whisper about Werewolves in fearful, hushed voices."  The tone was conversational.  "Every night you can hear howling but never close to the walls.  Men that hunt them come back insane and babbling if they come back at all."  
  
    "I'd bet the Werewolves of Skyrim are something else entirely."  
  
    It was just a little defensive and Regina smiled, picking up a quilted doublet.  "I'm sure.  Everything there is so much older, more wild."  
  
    "Well men did supposedly come to Tamriel through Skyrim." Emma informed her, preening just so at the fact that she knew a bit of history.  "The biggest group of them was led by Ysgramor and they kicked some Mer-ass."  
  
    "Well said." she tried not to roll her eyes.  "Didn't Ruby mention a set of baths?  Or am I expected to utilize the cold river?"  
  
    Emma did roll her eyes.  "I think Graham was trying to afford you some privacy."  
  
    "I think I could kill for hot water and not feel guilty about it just now."  
  
    The Monk laughed.  
  
  
  
  
    "Steam baths?"  
  
    "Yeah." Emma's chest swelled with a pride not her own.  "Granny said she found a book on some Dwemer technology and she snatched up all the Dwemer metal she could find.  Had Michael turn it out into pipes that never rust."  
  
    "I see.  You made it sound like this village was much more nomadic than it seemed.  Steam powered baths, stone buildings, farms that have seen more than a few seasons..."  
  
    Emma rolled her shoulders in a shrug.  "Sometimes we're lucky and we can afford to put down roots."  
  
    "Are you running from something?" she asked softly, thinking of Graham and his unintentional association to her.  
  
    "Eh, we have pretty nice people here but there are a few that have enemies.  Some of them are enemies you can't fight...you can only hide for a while and keep moving when they get close."  
  
    "Regina!"  
  
    Henry flew across the distance, throwing himself into Regina's embrace with abandon.  "It's all set!" he beamed up at her.  
  
    "What's...oh!  Right." she smiled indulgently.   
  
    "What's all set?" Emma raised a brow at them.  
  
    Henry shuffled in place, almost squirming behind Regina as though she were his shield.  "Uh...nothing?"  
  
    Emma looked to Regina but the Sorceress wasn't giving anything away and dared to change the topic.  "Would you like to show me the way to the baths, Henry?"  
  
    "Sure!" he clasped her hand and began to drag her along.  "I can only take you so far, though.  There's a girl side and a boy side.  One time, Gretel tried to drag me over to the girl side!  It was way uncool!"  
  
    Her small load of bathing supplies shifted when Emma reached out to ruffle Henry's hair.  "S'alright.  That's how you know a girl likes you."  
  
    "Ma!  That's gross!"  
  
    Emma laughed.  "Well, your Grandma always tries to tease your Grandpa into coming over to her side.  Let me tell you, kid, that is gross!"  
  
    He looked pretty horrified.  "They're too old to do that!"  
  
    A blush tickled at Emma's neck, hiding behind her too-innocent, curious expression.  "What _that_ are you thinkin'?"  
  
    His blush had no chance of being held back but Regina saved him.  "I'm sure she just wants him to check the pipes."  
  
    Emma's breathing hitched and she bit her lip.  
  
    "Dwemer metal can be slippery."  
  
    A snort.  
  
    "And you certainly don't want rust building up on it."  
  
    The amusement washed out with Emma's color.  "Wha...?  Oh _my eyes_ , Regina!"  
  
    Henry stopped, looking between the two of them.  "You guys are weird."  
  
    "Go ahead without us, Henry.  We'll be along shortly."  
  
    He claimed the bowl of supplies and dashed off.  "Gods, I need a mace to beat that out of my head!" Emma moaned, clutching at her forehead dramatically.  "I have to look my parents in the eye, y'know!"  
  
    "Consider it payback."  
  
    She gaped.  "For what?!"  
  
    "Anything you're likely to do that will embarrass me in the future."  
  
    Emma mulled over that for a few seconds, nodding along in acceptance.  "That's...really true."  
  
    "Self-realization is important, dear."  
  
    "Oh, ha, majesty." she rolled her eyes and continued on.  "Where do you lock up that funny bone?"  
  
    When they approached the inn and went around the back, Regina pointed out that a lot seemed to happen around Granny's.  Emma had shrugged and opened up what looked to be a storm-door, motioning that Regina was to enter.  "I guess so.  She does a lot in feeding and boarding us and sometimes she takes care of the kids.  Usually she's the one to board Leroy when his ass has reached fall-down-drunk just to make sure the rest of us don't have to deal with him."  
  
    "And this?" Regina descended into humid warmth.  
  
    Emma followed her down, ducking her head as they came into the mined-out portion.  The walls and ceiling were as they had been cut but the floor was finished with a walkway of boards, leading them to a split antechamber.  Through a flimsy wooden door, Regina identified what she guessed to be a changing room.  Another door waited at the opposite wall.  
  
    The Monk immediately began to strip down, piling her clothes haphazardly into a heap that suggested they all went together.  "I think this is for her old bones more than ours.  Woman's worked a long time and she'll probably work until she drops.  She closes this place up once the alcohol comes out.  Learned that lesson pretty quick."  
  
    Regina's 'ew' didn't need to be said.  A cupboard held more of the loose-knit towels along with some smaller rags and additional soaps and bowls.    
  
    "Ma?"  
  
    "Naked, Henry."  
  
    "Gross!  Just...I'm just letting you know I'm here!" he barked with young ire.  "August is with me and Grandpa's on the way."  
  
    "Wonderful." Emma sighed, walking around as though being naked were an everyday thing.  However she finally took note of Regina's red ears and slow, slow undressing and realized the princess was not accustom to this style of bathing.  She smirked to herself, collected what she would need from the cupboard, and headed for the opposite door.  "Looks like we have the place to ourselves for now.  Most people are out in the fields."  
  
    "I'll be there shortly."  
  
    Emma left and Regina sucked in a calming breath.  No city or home she'd ever lived in, not even in Skyrim, had people who just walked around naked and bathed together!  Raucous laughter and higher-pitched giggles soothed her a bit, though.  She could do this.  
  
    "Alright, alright, break it up."   
  
    The deeper voice of Charming cut the laughter short until he joined in on it, boyish antics resuming as though never paused.  Regina hurried out of the last of her clothing, collected one of everything from the cupboard, and slipped into the bathing area.    
  
    Four hanging lanterns gave light to a large room, cut from the stone apart from a heavy wooden wall to the right.  Slats up at the top exposed the light of another room, she assumed where the men would bathe.  A third of the room was layered with smooth boards before the rest dropped off into a pool of steaming water.  Seating had been cut into the basin and Emma lounged on one such bench, the steam thankfully distorting Regina's view.  
  
    "You need to wash before you get in the water."   
  
    Emma's languid tone danced over every one of Regina's nerves, causing her to grip the bowl of accoutrements tighter lest they slip away.  Her supplies were set aside and, for lack of knowing specifics, Regina scooped up some of the basin's water and set about scrubbing her skin.  She glanced up several times but Emma remained lounging with her eyes shut.  
  
    "Not many public baths where you come from?"  
  
    "No."  She grit her teeth.  A conversation was the last thing she wanted.  
  
    "I heard some merchant talking about Skyrim springs once.  Said they were yellow and smelly but people still stripped down and enjoyed the heat."  
  
    "I wouldn't know."  
  
    She'd been restricted to The Reach and Falkreath's ever-shifting boundaries, never once seeing other Holds in spite of her arguments that it would expand their power-base.  By then, her fights had been too little too late...her mother's focus had shifted.  
  
    A final rinse to clean away any remaining suds and Regina felt reasonably normal.  She slipped into the steaming water, however, and imagined she just might grow gills and fins for wanting to never leave.  "Oh, that's..." she sighed, shivers traveling her body.  
  
    "Nice, huh?" Emma chuckled, eyes still closed.  "Once we were set up near the Velothi range.  You want to talk about killing for hot water?  I would have leveled every city and town just for room-temperature mead."  
  
    Regina giggled in spite of herself.  
  
    Green eyes snapped open at the muted shouts of Henry and August splashing into the water, no doubt just barely clean enough.  Charming's warmer tones cautioned them against horseplay, but only after there was the clear sound of someone being dunked.  "Little shit." she chuckled.  
  
    "He's quite adventurous with an imagination I've only seen on Bards."  
  
    "Maybe that's it, hm?  I'll just ship him off to Solitude with a 'good luck' and ten gold."  
  
    "You would not."  
  
    "Nah."  She paused for effect.  "It would be twenty gold."  
  
    She flinched when she was splashed, the balled up rag having landed inches from her.  A grin teased across her lips while she snatched the offending object up.  "Oh, a trinket from our beloved princess!"  
  
    "Shut up." Regina blushed, watching as Emma squeezed out the excess and dropped the rag over her face, breathing through it.  "And if that's what you do with favors from royalty..."  
  
    Emma chuckled, her voice muffled slightly.  "My Da's in the other side, which means Ma won't be further behind.  She'll probably bring Ruby."  
  
    As if on cue, there were voices and laughter from behind the door.  Regina sighed, miffed without knowing why, and half-swam closer to Emma.  "Here I thought we had this to ourselves."  
  
    "Disappointed?" Emma lifted the cloth and waggled a brow.  "Did you have designs on me, princess?"  
  
    Emma spluttered as she was dragged under by her ankles.  Regina hadn't moved and she smiled in response to the Monk's glowering.  "What?  You accepted my favor but not my revenge?"  
  
    A 'small' wave of water was pushed her way but Regina was held back from retort as the two named women entered the bath.  Ruby smiled widely and Snow less so, though she was still polite.  Emma waggled her fingers.  "Slow day?"  
  
    "Muggy." Ruby informed her, collecting water from a pipe tap Regina hadn't noticed.  "Could mean there's rain coming."  
  
    "That's Granny's old bones talking." Snow rolled her eyes.  "Any time she gets overwhelmed, there's always 'a storm coming'."  
  
    "I think," Ruby sniffed at the sarcasm, "there's something funny on the wind.  Graham's noticed it, too."  
  
    "Bet that's not the ha-ha kind of funny." Emma grumbled.  
  
    "Maybe we should go out and see if anything is amiss?"  
  
    "Did you just say 'amiss'?"  
  
    "Yes." she snipped.  
  
    "Normal people just say 'wrong'."  
  
    Snow sighed as she entered the water, tossing a rolled up rag at her daughter.  "Hush, Emma.  It wouldn't hurt to expand your vocabulary."  
  
    Emma groaned at Regina's cocky smirk.  "Damn, Ma.  Now she's gonna start talking above my head with words that have ten billion syllables."  
  
    "I dunno." Ruby entered the water with a wink.  "She looks the sort that can say what's on her mind, blunt as the rest of us."  
  
    Snow and Regina entered a conversation about Henry and his sharp-mind so Ruby took the opportunity to grab Emma's arm and lead her to the opposite corner.  "So...spill!"  
  
    In honest confusion, Emma blinked.  "Spill what?"  
  
    She was given a look that screamed of doubt.  "C'mon Ems, you two come into town all happy, have a fight right before bed, and this afternoon you're all cuddly again.  Spill."  
  
    Emma blushed, realizing the exact implication as the word 'cuddly' reminded her of that morning.  "Er...damn, Ruby, there isn't anything..."  
  
    "Going on?" Ruby's keen eyes gleamed in disbelief.  
  
    "We're not..." she floundered, trying to will her blush away.  "Gods, it's not like that!" she hissed.  
  
    The Werewolf shrugged and Emma's defenses shot up.  Never was Ruby _that_ casual when she was hunting for information.  "I was walking the river this morning, saw you two napping.  Looked pretty cozy to me."  
  
    She jabbed a finger into Ruby's shoulder.  "It's nothing."  
  
    "You don't let just anyone touch you, Emma.  Even in sleep"  
  
    "Apparently neither of us got much sleep last night, alright?"  Her eyes glared daggers, just daring Ruby to run with that.  "We were tired, we fell asleep.  End.  Of.  Story."  
  
    "But she's a cuddler.  I think it's cute."  
  
    Emma rubbed a hand down the side of her face.  "Don't mention it to her.  Her head about exploded when she realized she was groping me in her sleep."  
  
    "I bet." she snickered but sobered up with a soft smile.  "She's a good one, Ems.  She's happy.  You're happy.  Henry is definitely happy."  
  
    "How do you know?" she grumbled.  
  
    Ruby just tapped the side of her nose and smirked.  
  
    "What are you two whispering about?"  
  
    "Henry's new interest in your sex life, Ma."  
  
    " _Emma_!"  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See me flapping my arms? That's me winging it through this whole village-shebang! Should there be a Ruby/Graham item or are they just fuzzy-buddies? Is Granny a Dwemer in disguise? What does Killian do when the rum's all gone? Sweetcake or Death? 
> 
> We'll be resuming our regularly scheduled Oblivion Crisis after these messages. :)


	11. Beginning of the End

    "Where ya going?"  
  
    Regina jumped about three feet before she whipped around, clenching her fist to snuff the fire when she spied Emma.  "It's a secret."  
  
    "Oh.  I'm sure you'll need company."  
  
    And she wasn't going to let it go, the Sorceress knew.  "Fine.  Stay back, though.  Henry won't want to see you."  
  
    "What are you up to anyway?"  
  
    "He wants me to join his little gang."  
  
    "Ah, the Bog Boys."  
  
    "You know?"  
  
    Emma shrugged a shoulder.  "Eh, the adults here aren't as slow or stupid as we look.  It's mostly harmless and they're usually in sight of someone."  
  
    "Ah, not as sneaky as they think.  So you know about the swimming contests?"  
  
    "Yeah." Emma's boot scuffed the heather.  "Archie told me about it.  I can't figure out how to say I'm proud of him without being upset that he was so stupid."  
  
    "He's not stupid."  
  
    "Reckless." came the clarification.  "They were swimming in one of the faster gullies where the water can suck you under and keep you there.  I'm proud he's strong enough to avoid the pull but terrified he'll try it again and run out of luck."  
  
    "You should go swimming with him."  
  
    Emma made a face, more to disguise how she had been staring the black leather encasing Regina's legs.  Ruby had quite the collection.  "The whole 'we're fighting' thing hasn't hit yet?"  
  
    Regina rolled her eyes, drawing them to a stop as they neared the stables.  She didn't see any of the boys yet.  "Try talking to him about the Arena.  Kyne knows you scared me half to death, I can only imagine how Henry feels."  Emma looked appropriately guilty.  "Children just...want to know.  They're curious, sometimes to the point of hurting themselves, and other than yell and brush him aside, tell Henry about something important.  Then he can tell you something."  
  
    Emma grunted nodding towards the stables.  "Your entourage has arrived."  
  
    Dark eyes blinked.  "My...?"  
  
    "The kids." she muttered, annoyed by Regina's knowing smirk.  
  
    "My, my, there's vocabulary in there after all."  
  
    "Go on!"  
  
    So she did but as she approached, Regina was hard-pressed to not double over in laughter.  She coughed to release some of the pressure, though.  "Hello."  
  
    "Regina!" Henry beamed at her, dragging her to an already-tight circle of boys.  A young Bosmer, August seemed the oldest and smiled at her while Hansel, a pudgy little Orc, picked at the ground for a minute before offering a shy greeting.  Henry proudly introduced his group of friends including two more Regina had not met earlier.  "This is Nicholas and Owen."  
  
    Both Nords with features that had yet to grow into the strong masculine planes of their forefathers yet their eyes were bright and their backs strong.  Or, at least Nicholas was.  Owen smiled up at her with skin-deep bravado - perhaps he had yet to grown into his own.  
  
    "Pleased to meet you all.  I'm Regina."  
  
    "She's way powerful and going to join our club!" Henry informed them jauntily.  
  
    Owen frowned and Hansel drew a sharp breath, rising up from his squat in shock.  "But she's a girl!"  
  
    "And old." Nicholas muttered.  
  
    Regina scowled at the slight against her age but Henry took up her cause.  "She's awesome, guys!  Hansel, I told you about her before!"  
  
    "Didn't say she'd be joining us." he raised his stubborn chin and folded his arms.  "You can't join.  No girls allowed, that's what we all said."  
  
    The ensuing argument left Regina more amused than upset.  It was hard to be angry when each boy had a Bog Beacon strapped to his forehead, the fungus bouncing ridiculously with any movement.  Though it was likely the origin of their group's name, no way in Oblivion would she be caught wearing one!  She sat on her knees in the grass, listening to them sling insults at one another.  Henry, her mini-knight in all this, kept the verbal mud from being flung her way by physically standing before her, arms flying about as he and August took her side.  
  
    "Do it!"  
  
    Regina blinked at Nicholas, unsure of what she'd missed.  "I'm sorry?"  
  
    "Summon something." He challenged, folding his arms much like Hansel.  "If you're really cool enough, and strong like Henry says, and you pass the initiation, then you can join!"  
  
    Even Henry's eyes lit up and the prospect of seeing a summoned pet.  Regina sighed.  "There isn't any need for them right now."  
  
    But Owen, to her great shock, perked up.  "So if me an' August got fightin', you'd summon somethin' t'stop it?!"  
  
    "No!" she gasped, horrified.  The mere thought of what a simple skeletal minion could do to a child made her feel ill!   
  
    "Please!" Henry begged in voice and with his eyes, so much like Emma's.  "Do like you did this morning!"  
  
    Ah, the Atronach.  She quietly damned her inability to say no to the boy but pulled herself up from the grass, drolly exploring the scene for a good place that wouldn't send half the village after her.  "Fine.  No touching, though!"  
  
    Five innocent-but-fooling-no-one faces smiled up at her.  Regina settled on a space far enough that wouldn't spook the horses but near enough that the boys could see.  "Ready?"  They couldn't even blink, so eager were they to not miss a beat.  She flicked her wrist and ten paces off, a Scamp jumped into existence.    
  
    Each boy gasped and before Regina could grab one of them, they were on their feet and running for the Daedric monster.  She swallowed her nerves, feeling eyes boring into her back, and was grateful that she couldn't hold a Scamp's energies for long.  Twenty seconds, no boy was brave enough to touch, and the minion vanished back to its plane.  They groaned with disappointed but even Hansel regarded her with touches of awe when they returned to their impromptu round-table.  "So...what is this initiation test?"  
  
    August produced a bouquet of Bog Beacons and popped the yellow heads off the stems, handing a total of five palm-sized fungi to her.  "You have to eat every one of these and not throw up."  
  
    Regina's stomach immediately shrank but her determination flared when she imagined there was muffled laughter.  Of course Emma would want to watch.  The fungi themselves weren't bad when cooked but without asking Regina knew the boys meant to eat them raw.  She said a prayer to the Divines and set a hand on her stomach, discreetly injecting restorative magics into her gut, and took the first by the teeth.  
  
  
      
    "Oh man, you did it..." Emma grimaced, half-supporting the stumbling Sorceress.  "That was disgusting, by the way."  
  
    "I won?"  
  
    "You won alright, princess.  Fact, I think those boys are gonna Hero-worship you forever."  
  
    "M'a Bog Boy."  
  
    "Maybe a Girl." she snickered, steering them towards her house.  "You're gonna stay with me tonight so I know you're not walking the woods on some hallucinogenic trip.  There's a reason we don't cook with those."  
  
    "More words from you..."  
  
    "Yeah, I'm a walking library it seems."  
  
    "I think the snails are gaining.  Stay with me?"  
  
    "With me, right." Emma rolled her eyes.  "How many of everything do you see?"  
  
    "Ssssenope."  Her brow pinched in concentration.  "Two?" she offered.  "Make the pink mammoth move, please.  I think the bunnies are hiding behind it."  
  
    "Sure thing."  
  
    "Are we there yet?"  
  
    "Close enough."  
  
    "I eat a lot of things."  
  
    "Food's always top on my list."  
  
    "For alchemy."  
  
    "Ah-huh."  
  
    "Had a party at the University once."  
  
    "I bet the robe-wearing types really cut loose with book parties and 'guess what I'll summon next'."  
  
    "Shh, the mammoth will hear you."  
  
    Regina dropped back on Emma's bed with that, wiggling her way under the furs that composed Emma's blankets.  She curled up in a tight ball near the wall while Emma decided that she just might go to sleep with her leathers on that night, lest Regina's unconscious tendencies drew her close.  So her boots were abandoned and she felt a bit overdressed for bed but still crawled in and sighed as her back relaxed.  
  
    Just before she drifted off, she heard a soft gasp from the lump at the other end.  "Regina?"  
  
    "The mammoth is out there with Henry!"  
  
    Emma smirked, keeping her eyes closed.  "He's gonna slay it.  Kill it dead."  
  
    "Oh.  He's brave."  
  
    Of course whatever internal alarm Emma's brain set, she would be up to check on him if he didn't return soon.  Emma had come from the shadows to retrieve a delirious Regina so he knew he would be expected home shortly.  She just had one slightly bigger problem to worry about for right then, one that could actually do them all harm if she wasn't in charge of her faculties.  
  
    She didn't relax until Regina's soft snoring reached her ears.  
  
  
  
  
    Emma was woken by Henry slapping at her arm.    
  
    Then he slammed a knee into her hip.  
  
    "Ow!" she hissed, twisting upright and away.  "Kid, what the...?"  
  
    " _Ma_...!" he pleaded, just a little desperate and weirded out.  
  
    Emma blinked, gained her feet, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again before gales of laughter caught up with her.  She doubled over with it while Henry scowled and hissed, "It's not funny!"  
  
    Henry, being him, had simply crawled over Emma when he returned home.  Apparently he'd been sandwiched between the two of them and Emma, being out cold, couldn't even warn him.  The Monk gave up and took a seat, her laughter echoing around the stone walls until it managed to wake Regina.  She was bleary and confused for all of three seconds but then gulped in a choked gasp and released poor Henry.  "O-Oh Gods, _HenryI'msosorry_!!"   
  
    She'd managed to flip over and cuddle the poor boy up like a stuffed animal at some point in the night and now her blush was painfully red and creeping down her neck.  Any brighter and Emma was sure she'd blow like a Dwemer release valve.  "It's...it's not just me!" she gasped out, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.  
  
    Regina returned to her defensive, rolled up position and Henry took to his feet, rubbing at his eyes while his mother continued to laugh.  "Really, Ma?"  
  
    It was with reluctance that he helped Emma to her feet for even then he had to nearly guide her out of the house due to the onset of stomach cramps and stitches in her sides.  
  
    They managed to get through half the day before Regina was found, tucked away in the stables, brushing each horse down until their coats gleamed like parade beasts.  Snow had the honor of the find, taking a comb and beginning to work the same horse, letting animal and Breton adjust to her presence before speaking.  "She means well, you know."  
  
    "She's an idiot." the Sorceress snapped, loose hair hiding her face.  
  
    Snow, to her surprise, laughed softly.  "Yes, sometimes she takes a great deal after her father."  
  
    "Taking pleasure in the misery of others?"  
  
    "Taking things a little too far." she corrected, gathering a breath.  "Henry's alright.  He was just a little surprised.  Emma's not really the cuddling sort."  
  
    At the offensive word defining her current exile, Regina scoffed.  "With a son like Henry, she has no excuse not to be."  
  
    "His father left quite the mark."  
  
    Regina paused, her eyes finally rising from their work.  The depth of them made Snow shiver.  "It's no excuse.  He loves her so much and she just..."  She sighed, resuming her brushing.  "She treats him like a child."  
  
    "Regina, he's only ten years old."  
  
    "But wiser than most of the adults!" another snap.  "I don't know why or how but Henry is _brilliant_ and no one will give him the respect he deserves!"  
  
    Snow's pale facade darkened and it was Regina's turn to shiver as she mentally scrambled back over the line.  After a few moments, and a few deep breaths, Snow calms and retracts.  "Do you have children, Regina?"  
  
    "...no."  
  
    "When you do," said with such certainty, "you will find that there is nothing you won't do for them.  No price you won't pay.  Emma's price for Henry is time.  She comes, she goes, she works harder than others to keep us afloat, and every time she comes back, Henry has grown or changed in some way and..."  Snow paused her combing, eyes distant.  "...it hurts.  I could never blame her for wanting the tiny boy that she brought to us out of the blue.  Every day, every trip out, he is that much closer to becoming a man, and she always faces a new creature when she comes back."  
  
    Regina worried at her lower lip.  "Why doesn't she stay?"  
  
    Snow's voice is so soft, so thick, the Sorceress strained to hear.  "I wish I knew."  
  
  
      
    "Up, keep 'em up!"  
  
    "They're up." he puffed out a sigh of exasperation.  
  
    "Alright, alright...block, down, out, high, and foot."  
  
    Henry followed the very slow-motion moves with firm concentration, eager to speed them up but losing his tempo and with it, his temper.  "Augh!  It's horrible!'  
  
    "C'mon, kid, try it again." Emma soothed him with a ruffle of his hair.  
  
    "Aw, Ma!" he blushed and pushed her off, glancing to where Paige and Ava were watching.    
  
    Emma faltered but opened herself up to his advance, taking his blows without making real effort to block them.  "Good, good!  Again."  
  
    "What is this one, anyway?"  
  
    She smirked, spying an opening and pushing him back lightly.  To her pleasure, he immediately came up again.  "Kind of a cross between the Mudcrab and Fish."  
  
    "An Emma-Special?"  His grin was cheeky.  
  
    "Pff!  One day we'll get you up to the Troll and then you'll see some Emma-Specials, kid!"  
  
    "Do you and Regina spar like this, Ma?"  
  
    Thinking of their last huge blowup, Emma favored her left leg for a moment.  "Uh...sort of."  
  
    "Or do you just make her mad?"  
  
    "I think I resent that." she blew it off, stepping around him and pushing his roundhouse away, proud that he thought of his own move to follow her.  Never stop moving, that was the key.  
  
    And he didn't, his swinging foot hardly touching the ground before he jabbed up, the Boar, and then tried to slap her back, the Bear.  His cocky little smirk proved that her surprise had shown so Emma was sure to plant her feet next, ensuring that his wild, and obvious, attempt at a Troll swing simply bounced off.  She caught his shirt before he face-planted, releasing as he found his feet.  "That was good, kid.  Really damn good."  
  
    "Of course!" he crowed.  "I've been practicing!"  
  
    A shame that Emma was such a poor teacher, then!  One of the reasons she didn't stick around the temple, as a matter of fact, but that hardly mattered now.  "It shows." she informed him softly, her heart aching around the swell of pride.  
  
    "Think Regina can teach me some magic?"  
  
    Blindsided, she didn't see the attack to her knees and fell to one before she caught her brain.  "Wh-What?"  
  
    Torn between pride that he'd gotten her and her tone, Henry shuffled awkwardly in place.  "Think she could teach me some magic sometime?  Like you teach me."  
  
    "Oh..." Emma remained in place, feeling awkward in her own skin.  "Um, I don't know, Henry.  She may not be sticking around."  
  
    "What?!"  
  
    He appeared stricken and Emma cussed herself out quietly.  
  
    "Oh I'll be around for a while, Miss Swan."  
  
    "You let her call you that?" his nose wrinkled, momentarily distracted before he threw himself at Regina.  
  
    Emma gained her feet at last, dusting her hands.  "Yeah.  She's the only one, though."  
  
    "Miss Ma?" he tried.  
  
    "Now that's just weird."  
  
    "Agreed." Regina ruffled the boy's locks before he released her.  "Why are you worried about me leaving?"  
  
    "I want you to teach me magic!" he grinned, then faltered.  "Er, if...if you want to."  
  
    She glanced towards Emma but the Monk was doing her no favors, looking at the girls that were lingering around the dirt ring.  "Well, I think that's actually up to your mother."  
  
    "But she doesn't even like magic!" Henry whined.  
  
    Regina's head snapped upright so fast she heard something pop.  "Is that so?"  
  
    "Never brought me anything but trouble.  Case in point, you." she smiled, trying to make light of it.  
  
    But Regina looked back to Henry, who reviewed their exchange with wide, interested eyes.  "That's a very interesting take on it, considering your mother uses magic herself."  
  
    "I do not!" she gaped.  
  
    "Oh?" she purred, nudging Henry out of the ring and taking his place.  Regina raised an open hand.  "Strike me."  
  
    "You can't be serious."   
  
    "Quite so.  Strike my hand."  
  
    "You're nuts!  I'll break it!"  
  
    Regina chuckled, her magic winding down her arm, collecting in her palm.  "Strike.  My.  Hand."  
  
    Emma sighed and gave a quick jab, watching Regina's eyes narrow on her.  
  
    "Really, Miss Swan, I've run into Mudcrabs that hit harder than you."  
  
    Another jab, a little more force.  
  
    Regina feigned a yawn.  
  
    Another, with her elbow working it in.  
  
    "This isn't how you kill goblins, is it?"  
  
    Emma scowled, glancing nervously at the children on the sidelines.  Regina followed her gaze, her eyes softening a little as if to remind Emma of their last conversation.  Be honest with him.  Tell him the truth.  However 'the truth' was that Emma was a horrid monster, a terrible force of nature like the storms that gave children nightmares.  Henry watched her with such trusting, open eyes, but to show him that?  Emma couldn't live with what fear she knew would take root in him.  
  
    "I'm not magical, Regina.  I used a few tricks to open locks, that's it." she huffed, lowering her arms.  
  
    "Hm." Regina snapped out and used the magica swirling through her right arm to clock the Monk square across the jaw.  She actually got Emma to stagger back and smiled, though it was not friendly.    
  
    Emma held her jaw, feeling fury rise up within.  She glanced to the children, whose group had picked up two more, and back to Regina.  Not an ounce of fear either way.  "What was that?" she snarled.  
  
    "I thought you needed a reminder of a proper str--"  
  
    Regina raised her hand just in time to block the wild hay maker, the impact causing ripples in the concentrated shield she held.  "That's all you have?" she goaded.  
  
    For Emma, who had spend years mastering this inner demon of power and pain, the trick was as water off her back.  She realized the stubborn Sorceress' intent, however, and would prove her wrong.  Her body and mind had been honed into a vicious weapon that came with its own armor.  She didn't use magic.  She Did NOT!  
  
    The next hit was even better and Regina laughed, cold and unfamiliar to her own ears, goading Emma on and on until the Monk's arm was in contant motion, attempting to crack the shield that was draining Regina's magica.  Her delight was painfully clear when the children gasped and Emma herself could see the threads of blinding white magic wrapped around her arm, flying off her fist, impacting and merging with Regina's shield.   
  
    It stopped Emma cold and she stared at her arm as though it were a foreign creature while she caught her breath.  Regina let her shield fall at last and worked on catching her own breath, jabbing a finger at the Monk's exhausted arm.  "Magic."  
  
    "Ma...?"  
  
    Emma blushed, then paled as she recalled her son.  "H-Henry!"  
  
    He cautiously stepped into the ring, towards her, and tentatively prodded at her arms, holding her limp wrists and beaming up at her.  "That was _so COOL_!!"  
  
    Emma dropped to sit in the dirt, tears of gratitude beading in the corners of her eyes as Henry went on, and on, about the bare-bones display of exactly what Emma could do!  He didn't go far from her, even pounce-hugging her once or twice as he did with the Sorceress.  Regina stood near her, though she refused to sit.  Emma had no words for her and Regina could only smile and say, "How do you think you can crush skulls without breaking a sweat?"  
  
  
  
    Not that it was a comfortable idea.  No, not at all.  
  
    Emma still wrung her arms and hands as though they could crawl off her body.  Her shirt and gloves itched so before she could rip either off, she found herself a distraction.  "We shouldn't be long."  
  
    "Ah, you say that and yet..." Charming tried to be neutral about it but his eyes told a completely different story.   Still, Emma allowed a hug and he took that into his heart to soothe it.  
  
    "Keep her safe." Snow squeezed Regina's hands, smiling warmly.  
  
    Uncertain of what to do with either the request or the affection, Emma could more than handle herself, Regina just smiled and withdrew her hands.  With Henry, however, she knelt down to hug him and tap his quivering lower lip.  "Hey, no crying.  It's hardly forever."  
  
    "Only a few hours if we're lucky.  Probably just some new goblins that are setting off Ruby's nose." Emma smiled at him reassuringly.  He hugged her waist and she ruffled his hair and it was all full of a normality that had been missing for some time.  
  
    To think she had a Breton, of all Tamriel's peoples, to thank for it.  
  
    "Oy, wait a moment!"  
  
    They turned to see Graham rushing up to them, arms full of a noisy, heavy pile of metal.  He thrust his arms out to Regina and she cocked a brow.  "What's this?"  
  
    "A gift." He grinned.  "I had some Dwemer armor stored away but Michael had his wife's curiass still and said you were to wear it.  Mentioned that it would honor her, and her soul."  
  
    "I didn't know her..." Regina frowned over the gift, taking its weight into her arms.  She knew something of the honor of Orcs and no one but a fool would turn down Orcish armor, especially _free_ Orcish armor.  Therefore she hurried in shucking the Legion curiass and sliding on the Orcish.  For a few moments, it felt ten times heavier than it aught but as she fitted the belts, the awkwardness receded and she felt a little more centered.  Still, the boundary walk was going to kill her legs.  
  
    "You two should take our horses." Charming noted, utterly ignorant to Regina's instant gratitude.  
  
    "We'd like that, thank you." she answered before Emma could so much as open her mouth.  
  
    "Horses and me?" the Monk reminded.  
  
    A shame she was being ignored.  Charming even disregarded the comment.  "Well, the faster you go, the sooner you're back."  
  
    "Right!" Henry chimed in.  
  
    So onto horses they went, Emma picking the absolutely most docile animal in the stables.  Regina teased that they didn't want to walk the horses the whole way and Ruby smirked in agreement with her.  Emma gave them both two fingers and hauled into the saddle.  Away from the stables, Ruby transformed herself, the evening light still strong and giving good light to the miraculous.  Regina studied it in awe.  
  
    Werewolf-Ruby took the lead, getting the horses up to a trot as she was literally led around by the nose.  Absolutely not one goblin was found, though a few wisps met very unhappy ends at Regina's magic.  Ruby snarled down any wolf they met but not once was a blade or bow or spell raised against them.  The sun had set by the time they agreed they weren't finding anything.  Ruby was turning to lead them back when Regina saw it.  Just a flash in her peripheral but she turned and got a much more striking view.  
  
    Red lightning reached out into the night, its fingers lingering jealously.  "Emma!"  
  
    "Hn?"  
  
    "This way."  
  
    Not twenty steps more and a roll of thunder rattled in their chests and startled the horses.  A more subtle roaring began in their ears, cracked with the pop of flames, and chills touched the adventuring duo.  Emma dismounted, glancing at the bloody sky, and turned to Ruby.  "Take the horses back."  
  
    Ruby whimpered, her instincts warring against the run back, but Emma shook her head and jutted her chin out.  "Go.  Anything gets past us, take it down."  
  
    A much more firm, and satisfying, growl was her affirmative.  
  
    "That's why she couldn't localize the smell." Regina eyed the sky.  Even without superior wolf-senses, the Daedric essence bled into the ground and air and a person's very being.    
  
    She hadn't even noticed Emma scurry off but the Monk's return was noted, as was her frown.  "Two...things."  
  
    "Your powers of observation are astounding, Miss Swan."  
  
    A scowl.  "They look like twisted versions of Argonians with beaks, claws...their heads have a big plate attached to the back."  
  
    "Clannfear."  At Emma's gawking, she smirked.  "Your hand gestures helped infinitely."  
  
    Her scowl returned.  "You know Daedra?  Aside from the creepy things your call up?"  
  
    "Those 'creepy things' have kept us alive more than a few times."  
  
    "Yeah, if you use them as bait."  
  
    "Exactly."  
  
    No apologies.  Emma shook her head and drew her bow.  "Well, let's get in some trouble, shall we?"  
  
  
  
  
    Into the Maw once more and back to the strange living-ground that would eat anything standing still on it for too long.  Their tactics had to change once inside, however.  More than a few Flame Atronachs met them within and Emma laughed through the irony - fire was Regina's trademark favorite and now her newest pet was useless!  She did, however, have an ice spell that aided Emma's efforts when combined with walking corpses.  
  
    Emma had conceded only after Regina promised to keep them away from her...then she'd laughed when a headless one ambled straight into the lava.  The Sorceress had been less than amused.  
  
    That changed when they entered the first ominous building they came across.  The huge Kynreeve that had rushed Emma fell at the touch of one fireball.  Regina had smirked and blown out her hand, getting Emma to grin.  It wasn't the building they were looking for however it did have one horrible surprise at the top.  
  
    "Uh...Regina?"  
  
    "Yes, Emma?"  
  
    "Is that...?"  
  
    "A beating heart, why yes.  Yes it is."  
  
    Her tone was odd but stranger still was the way she approached the strung-up organ.  "Reginooow, Gods, what are you doing?!"  
  
    "These..." Regina spoke conversationally while reaching into the tortured flesh.  "...are deposits of treasure or other important items."  She pulled her hand out with a fistful of gold and one gem.  It wasn't half as bloody as Emma thought it aught to be but her knees still wobbled.    
  
    The Sorceress went in again and Emma used a hand to brace herself against the floor, which she wasn't entirely sure wasn't skin stretched to the point of clarity.  "Oh, please stop that..."  
  
    "No point in being queasy, Miss Swan.  These can save your life."  
  
    Emma coughed, taking deep breath and swallowing down lunch.  Again.  "Y-You know a l-lot about these?"  
  
    "From books."   
  
    The answer was too quick, too pat, and Emma gripped onto that to keep her legs from collapsing when she stood upright.  "You're still not telling me things."  
  
    "Everyone has secrets." Regina murmured, tucking away the potions she'd found.  
  
    The Monk let it go, wondering instead how many other buildings they would have to dig through...how many other heart-treasure-troves.  How many other Gates?!  
  
    "How many, do you think?"  
  
    "How many what?"  
  
    "Gates." she held the door open for Regina.  
  
    "I hope this one is just an anomaly."  
  
    "You haven't even told me 'I told you so' yet."  
  
    She filtered back through their conversations: the Imperial City, Chorrol, Cloud Ruler Temple, Kvatch.  "Oh.  I guess..." she worried at her lip.  "I guess I'm not happy to be right this time.  This Gate is much too close to Henry."  
  
    "Heh, you like the runt."  
  
    "He's not a runt."  
  
    "He shorter than August."  
  
    "I don't know, Emma, was Henry's father a Bosmer and August's mother an Altmer?"  
  
    "His father was a moron that got himself killed."  
  
    "...I...I see."  
  
    "Sorry." she gruffed, scrubbing at her face and wandering ahead for a moment of peace.  
  
    There was the sound of chains clinking, metal moving on metal, and the approach of heat before Emma was jerked back with a sharp cry of her name.  "What the...?"  
  
    "Don't you ever look where you're going, you idiot?!"  
  
    Huh.  Emma gets a nerve struck and then gets yelled at by the miner...  
  
    "Look!"  
  
    A hand forced her jaw up and Emma pushed it off.  "What is it?"  
  
    "A Fire Turret.  It...seems to have a certain range."  
  
    "Pah, you didn't know they'd be dangerous!"  
  
    "True but they don't exactly look friendly!"  
  
    "Have you looked around princess?!  We are in un-fucking-friendly central!"  
  
    Regina folded her arms in, quite possibly, the most childish move Emma has seen this whole time.  "Don't patronize me, Swan."  
  
    "Ooo, not even a 'Miss' this time.  Shit must be serious!"  
  
    "What is your problem?"  
  
    "My problem is that I need to get back to my son!  To do that, I need to get out of this rotten little corner of Oblivion and to do that I need to get past these...these...!!"  
  
    "Turrets..."  
  
    Emma sighed, terse and hot.  "And I'm trying to find a way to get you through without burning your pretty little face.  Henry would die if I came back without you."  
  
    Regina was drawn to silence, partially for the words but partially because it was said through Emma's teeth in the closest thing to a civilized growl on this side of Aetherius.  She had examined their chances and any potential windows during their shouting match but found no reprieve.  There was one way through.  Five turrets, maybe eight to ten shots that were going to hurt like hell.  She sucked in a quiet breath.  "We just have to run."  
  
    "Huh?"  
  
    "We'll just have to run.  Take the risk, keep healing magics going.  And dodge."  
  
    "Hah..." Emma snorted, setting a hand on Regina's shoulder and pointing past the turrets.  "I'm much more worried about what's on the other side."  
  
    As if waiting for them, a Kynreeve paced just out of turret five's reach.  Regina smirked, calculated his next potential movement, and sent a fireball straight for him.  It missed horribly.  
  
    "Damn, who taught you to..."  
  
    Startled, the Kynreeve finally noticed them and charged with a cry of Daedric nonsense.  Regina readied another fireball but Oblivion was a step ahead.  Two towers was all it took and he was lying face down, prepared to be absorbed.  "Huh...would you lookit that."  
  
    "That's...encouraging." Regina agreed.   
  
    "Okay, hold your breath."  
  
    "We're not swimming, Miss Swan."  
  
    Emma's hand snaked into her own, coiling tight, and Regina's lips quirked in a faint smile.    
  
  
  
  
    "Why do they even _have_ a place like that?"  
  
    Emma held her stomach but even Regina, usually so cool under fire, looked a bit green.  "Some sort of meat...food..."  
  
    "Oh don't even say it."  
  
    Regina nodded stiffly, swallowing.  "That just leaves the last tower."  
  
    "And five hundred more baddies.  How long have we been here?"  
  
    "How many times have you almost vomited?"  
  
    "Plenty."  
  
    She hadn't actually let her stomach do what it wanted and Emma was proud of that.  Small victories.  If this last tower followed the pattern of their first Gate, they could, in theory, reach the top quickly.  They already had a key, pulled from the throat of the last Kynreeve, so locks wouldn't be a problem.  Hopefully.  There was an awful lot of gunk on the key's teeth.  
  
    They forged ahead, Regina actually taking point since subtly was not warranted.  Emma came up from behind when the Sorceress' magica dwindled low and gave her a shot to work it back up.  Other than the occasional need to double over and breathe deep, Emma was doing alright.  How had she not noticed all this horror the first time around?!  
  
    Up to the second level, battling conjured beasts and their Dremora masters.  Emma's bow grip was almost too hot to hold at one point - Regina kindly cooled it down with a spell even if it was now so cold Emma's fingertips turned blue on touch.  The Sorceress had smiled sheepishly and shrugged a shoulder in apology.  
  
    Level three and the Kynreeves gave immediate way to Kynmarchers and two Land Dreugh.  Such a jump in command strength made Emma leery but she busied the Dreugh, with grace built of Charming's blood, until Regina disposed of the lordly, biped duo.  The Dreugh were slippery bastards for being so big.  Emma eventually stopped aiming for their chests and went straight for joints and legs, making ichor explode in the small room.  She took care of each in due turn, turning to Regina in frustration.  "Why didn't you...you...a-are you okay?"  
  
    Regina looked a bit white and she hadn't moved from where she'd incinerated the Kynmarchers.  Emma, unmindful of the ichor seeping into her armor, approached but couldn't blame Regina for flinching back.  "Uh...Regina?"  
  
    "Oh, I...I h-hate spiders..."  
  
    "Yeah, I can see that."  
  
    After that little tiff, access to the Sigillum Sanguis was a cakewalk, though they each took a moment to heal up for whatever terrors awaited them, flinching at the lightning and the wind that pushed tears from their eyes.  Emma waited with unusual patience until Regina decided she was up to par, enough that the Sorceress cocked a brow.  "Nervous?"  
  
    "Eh?  Oh, no.  Just trapped in Oblivion and getting home is going to require me fighting down the worst of this plane.  That's all."  
  
    "We can do this."  
  
    "Yeah...Henry's waiting, right?"  
  
    "Right."  
  
    " _Well, well!  Now that your little moment is over, why don't you stop being so rude and come in_?"  
  
    The voice was displaced, unnaturally pitched, and echoed in spite of the wind.  Emma swallowed her nerves and held Regina's elbow; the princess having gone numb and looking white again.  "Who is that?" she hissed.  
  
    " _Oh dearie-dear, I'm shocked!  Not a who, churl, but a what_!"  
      
    "I hate riddles."  
  
    " _I'm sure they make your tiny mind, ache, dearie.  Come in!  Come in and we'll see about those aches_."  
  
    "Sheogorath?"  
  
    " _Now you're just being insulting_."  
  
    The voice growled and chills trickled up and down her spine.  "Regina, snap out of it!"  
  
    Their climb up the final ramp and into the red, red light of the Sigillum made Emma question her sanity.  Standing before them, more dancing in truth, was an ordinary, every day man; if men had golden, scaled skin and eyes more wicked and sharp than any plot of mortals.  His clothes certainly reminded Emma of the Mad-King but perhaps he was just a big fan.    
  
    Regina was still unresponsive.  
  
    " _Oh, at last, at last dearies_!"  He giggled, clapping his hands; every movement done with flair.  " _I came looking for_ ," He posed, " _The Hero of Kvatch_!"  Now a hand to his ear.  " _But the wind whispered and told me, there are two, two Heros for one Gate_!"  
  
    Emma's expression crunched into a snarl.  "I'm the one you want, Goldie!  The leader of their defenses gave me this in his gratitude."  She smoothed out the Kvatch standard, looking so much worse for wear.  
  
    " _Hm, yes...ichor truly does fit a dirt-born peasant_." he giggled; always giggling.  
  
    "Well I'm here, what do you want?"  
  
    " _Do you know what else the wind whispers, churl_?"  A grin full of malevolence.  " _A princess.  A princess and the key to a kingdom_."  
  
    That would've been an excellent time for Regina to snap out of it but she remained frozen and Emma didn't let go of her.  "What do you need with me, Goldie?!"  
  
    " _Tch!  So self-centered for one so small!  Don't you know to kneel to your betters, churl_?"  
  
    The end of his growl put Emma down on her right knee and she strained against the force used to keep her there.  It wasn't Regina's magic, not even close.  This was oily, black as the Brotherhood yet infinitely more!  "What do you want?" she growled out, head shaking as she dared to raise it.  The same force tried to rip her hand from Regina's arm but that she could keep, she had to keep!  
  
    " _Such a rude peasant_!"  
  
    "Oh, leave her be, Rumpel.  In the long run she is a gnat."  
  
    This "Rumpel" seemed rather disgruntled but released the hold on Emma, who sprang upright with force and fist at the ready.  
  
    " _She's a brute_." he spat the word.  
  
    "And hers will come.  For now...Regina?"  
  
    The way this new voice shifted from patronizing and commanding to such a gentle, mothering tone, made Emma ill.  It had the opposite affect on Regina, however.  She came to life once more, looking up to the second tier, eyes shining.  "Mother..."  
  
    A woman approached the fiery dais that hosted the Sigil Stone, the precious heartbeat that kept the Gate open and threatening all Emma loved.  Looking between them, Emma could hardly say they were related.  There was a sour bitterness around this older woman, a pinched quality to her features and though they might relax, there could only be vile intent found.    
  
    Regina broke away, running up the jagged stairway and staring at her mother with what could only be described as love; pained and broken as it might be.  "Mother, please...don't do this!"  
  
    "Oh, my sweet, sweet Regina."   
  
    "We...we can go back home, find Daddy and--"  
  
    "Your father is dead."  
  
    A knife in the back would have hurt less.   "D-Dead?  How?  When?" her voice trembled.  
  
    Emma eased up the stairs, always with an eye to Goldie.    
  
    "I guess his heart just couldn't stand another winter.  He was always weak, Regina."  
  
    "N-No!" her own vehemence surprised her.  "He...He could still saddle Rocinante when..."  
  
    Whatever gentle light there had been was snuffed and Regina's mother became another creature entirely.  "Do you know how many people died for you to escape, my love?  How many warred because you couldn't do what you were told?"  
  
    "It's one of her finer qualities." Emma growled, coming up behind Regina and feeling the Sorceress stand a little taller with the Monk's hand on her shoulder.  
  
    "Buzz away, gnat."  
  
    "What in Oblivion are you, lady?"  
  
    She smiled, not seeing how Emma's arm slid down to rest on Regina's waist.  "I am Cora, Regina's mother.  I just want my baby girl to come home.  You can understand that?"  
  
    "The word 'escape' makes your wants a little suspect, y'know?" Emma sneered, her hand sliding around until it once again had possession of Regina's elbow.  "Having tea with Sheogorath would be safer."  
  
    "Did you kill him, Mother?"  
  
    The mousy quality of Regina's words stopped Emma's slow approach of the Queen.  Cora regarded her burning green eyes with pure contempt.   
  
    "Did you kill Daddy?" a little stronger now.  
  
    "Darling, he was so weak!  You're better off without him putting ideas in your head!"  
  
    Regina's lower lip trembled, but just for a moment before her expression hardened.  "I am going to stop you, Mother."  
  
    "If you could just _join_ me, Regina, this would--"  
      
    "She's not joining your band of crazy.  Get it?"  
  
    Cora set her entire focus on Emma, exactly where the Monk needed it.  "I think your time has come sooner than expe-"  
  
    Emma rushed her mid-sentence, feigning a swing for her head that, as hoped, made the Queen move.  Disappear would be more accurate but there wasn't time to analyze that.  Emma plunged her hand into the sticky blackness and ripped out the Gate's heart, a scream of outrage like music to her ears.  She gathered Regina close and glared at the Queen with challenge and promise.  
  
    They would meet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I first played Oblivion on an XBox and when I ran into wisps, I always ran because I play tanks, usually. Terrified me until recently - did a Quicksave and engaged...silver and elven arrows are brilliant! 
> 
> Went to Bramblepoint Cave, killing along, sneaky sneaky in Heavy Armor. Get everything dead and start creeping towards the quest-chest and out of the freaking shadows, like some Paranormal Activity movie, steps the biggest damn spider I've ever seen! I seriously recoiled from the game before I backed Regina up! Turns out it was a Land Dreugh and it's not fond of fire. :D


	12. White Stallion

    Dawn struck by the time they made it back to the village.  
  
    Regina didn't even acknowledge Henry at first, prompting him to turn on Emma with hurtful questions and accusations.  What did you do to her?!  Why didn't you protect her?    
  
    On and on the angry garbage went until Emma, able to deflect almost any word, hit her limit.  Her expression must have been incredibly dark for Henry shut up, shrank back, and ran off.  Then her parents, Gods her parents, clouded around her with love and concern and it choked the air until the Monk broke free and demanded that they leave her alone.  She hid herself away in the darkness of her home, no candles lit and no windows open.  After the red, _red_ of Oblivion, the cool blackness was a balm on her soul.  
  
    Her armor was peeled off one bit at a time, the ichor now dried to a flakey wax, and she scrubbed her face with the last of her water skin.  Next was a shirt so clean and soft Emma realized her mother had scurried in and supplied her with new clothes.  On her way to bed, she nearly tripped over a heavy curiass that was certainly not her own.  "Regina?"  
  
    "Swan."  
      
    So flat, so monotone and distant.  Emma picked her way around a trail of boots, gauntlets, and greaves until landing in the relative safety of her bed.  She settled on her knees, watching Regina's back.  No doubt the Sorceress was tired, Emma was downright exhausted, but there was something wrong.  "You...want a new shirt?  Looks like Ma invaded while I was out."  
  
    "No."  
  
    Emma shuffled, deciding to lay down if single words were going to be her answers.  "Your Ma's a piece of work."  
  
    No reaction.  
  
    She picked at the loose-laces of her shirt.  "I, uh...I'm sorry.  Y'know?  About your Da."  
  
    "Is Henry alright?"  
  
    "He's...Henry."  Emma sighed.  
  
    "You should stay here."  
  
    "I live here."  
  
    "No..."  A sigh of frustration and what sounded like Regina turning over.  "Always, Emma.  He's growing up so fast and you're going to miss it."  
  
    Hackles twitching, Emma cut words with her back teeth.  "I have to miss it, now.  That Gate was no accident."  
  
    Regina's breath caught.  "You don't think she'll target this village?"  
  
    "I think those crazies are going to target any and everywhere they can." she growled.  "I won't be surprised if Kvatch was just a starting point.  A test."  
  
    Regina was silent for several long minutes.  "I'm sorry."  
  
    "Tch!  You're not the psycho that's ripping holes in Nirn are you?"  
  
    "Emma, please..."  
  
    "You're not doing this by yourself."  
  
    "Think of Henry!" she reached out, snagging the Monk by the arm.  "Your mother said--"  
  
    Emma ripped the limb away.  "Ma never did know how to keep her mouth shut!"  
  
    "My...my father's name was Henry."  
  
    Her voice cracked and the fire snapped right out of Emma.  Around the thundering of her heart, she reached out and hauled Regina close, the Sorceress' head tucked under her chin.  A flurry of nerves was ignored while she stroked Regina's back, much like when Henry was ill.  "I'm sorry."  
  
    The brunette trembled, fingers hooking into Emma's shirt as though she'd fall otherwise.  "I just...he loved me so much.  He saw what I didn't want to and he made me leave.  I was so _angry_ with him but then I was terrified...I knew, I just knew that the cost would be terrible!"  
  
    Emma sighed, pressing her lips to dark hair in an absent gesture.  "Sometimes all you can do is run.  It's not your fault."  
  
    Regina broke, wrapping herself around the Monk .  
  
      
  
    They took what rest they could, speaking with the village heads and discussing options between naps.  Regina's somber pall was clear as daylight however the villagers let her be for the most part.  Henry attached himself to her side, even when she went to bed.  He assured her that he didn't mind her hugs if they made her feel better.  When he succumbed to sleep, Emma would join them on the bed too small for three people, hugging the edge and holding Regina's eye over Henry's head until one or the other drifted off.  
  
    "Grumps came back with word from Leyawiin.  Apparently a few Gates have opened up pretty close to the city.  The guard's all riled up but other than the ones defending the Gate, no Daedra have appeared to attack anyone."  
  
    "Well that's comforting." Emma sassed, folding her arms under her breasts.  
  
    Charming shook his head, leaning over the map once more.  "It's more than we've had.  Word on the roads is that Gates are opening near every major city in Cyrodiil except the Imperial City."  
  
    "That could just be gossip." Snow gently chided his excited tone.  "Kvatch terrified a great many people but we have yet to see destruction on that scale."  
  
    "We should still be prepared for attacks.  Even small skirmishes.  If there is an intelligence behind each Gate, they will try to test us."  
  
    "Not to drag things down, people, but one important point?" Ruby spoke up, tapping the great red X over Kvatch on the map.  "Emma and Regina are the _only_ known people to go into a Gate and come out alive.  Twice."  
  
    "Once you figure out the key, it's not so hard.  In fact, I'm surprised Kvatch was taken at all but Leyawiin's full of softies."  
  
    Regina rolled her eyes at the brave talk, jabbing her elbow into Emma's side to remind her of the many shades of green the Monk could turn.  Most of the village still held Emma to Regina's bawdy embellishments of their first Gate and with the closing of a second, it was all the worse.  No need to empower a people just to see them killed!  "What she's _trying_ to say is that they are more dangerous than you might think.  Each experience, we have run into a new variety of Daedra and they only seem to be getting stronger."  She paused, letting them drink that in.  "I am afraid that those without combat experience would be slaughtered before so much as stepping near a Gate."  
  
    "You could take us through, show us the way."  
  
    Emma slapped her palms on the table, imitating her father to a T.  "No.  The fewer people we have in there, the better our chances of getting in and out with our lives.  This last row, I almost had my legs blown off twice because of some stupid landmines that blend in--"  
  
    She recalled Henry's presence a few heartbeats too late and his whitewashed face proved he was listening closely.  Emma hung her head but Regina went to the boy, stroking his hair with a half-smile.  "That's why I'm there - to make sure she watches her step."  
  
    He nodded mutely, swallowing hard and studying his sandals with keen interest.  Emma sighed at the cold glare she received from her friend.  "The point being, it's dangerous enough with just the two of us.  Any more and we could either trip over each other or end up killing one another out of a case of nerves."  
  
    "That's ridiculous." Charming scoffed, tossing up his hands in frustration.  "We've all had some training-"  
  
    "How about experience, Da?" Emma snapped, palms becoming fists.  "Ruby and Graham charming the wolves while you guys fight off boars and Imps is a damned walk down the Green Emperor Way compared to bringing down an Atronach or a fully armored Kynreeve!"  
  
    "Emma!" Snow scolded, drawing breath for more.  
  
    "Girl's right."  
  
    All eyes fell to Granny, who frowned at the map.  "You can't be serious." Charming growled out.  "If we want this done as fast and as safe as possible, numbers are the answer!"  
  
    "What good's Leroy going to do for you when he sees four of everything?" she retorted.  "How about Marco?  A Daedra's gonna hold still for his saws?  Maybe Archie?  I'm sure he can lift a rake to the cause!  And while you're all out hoping to beat the odds, what's t'stop another Gate from yawning open in the middle of town, eh?"  
  
    "She's right..." Ruby admitted softly, squeezing Snow's shoulders.  "This is too big for us."  
  
    "We've defended ourselves before." she protested.  
  
    "On the run, though.  Always on the run, Ma." Emma pressed.  "It's easy to leave a few of the strong to set traps and guard your ass while the rest are making a break."  
  
    The room cringed collectively at the implication that their band of misfits was, in fact, the very hodgepodge of weakness that drew it together.  Luck had been on their side more times than skill; no amount of protest or faith could change that.  Snow drew a steady breath.  "You're asking for my blessing.  You want me to send you off in good faith that you'll be able to withstand the tortures of Oblivion and survive."  
  
    Emma frowned.  "I don't need your blessing.  I will do what it takes to keep us safe."  
  
    "She won't be going alone, either."  
  
    Regina rejoined the adults, a hand curling around Emma's bicep while she met each set of eyes.  "Together we have formed quite the effective team for disposing of this menace."  
  
    Snow's eyes locked on the touch and her husband spoke up in her stead.  "If we must stay, we will begin immediate training for all.  Any skilled in the arts of war or the making of its devices will become our teachers.  Are we agreed?"  
  
    "Emma, I need to speak with you."  
  
    Snow left the assembly before a decision was reached.  Charming sighed, muttering about bringing in Archie and Marco when he left.  Emma watched her mother leave, drawing up her walls and her patience as she followed.    
  
    To the lee side of the inn, Emma trailed her mother, reading the lines of tension and stopping before Snow whirled on her.  "Who is that woman?"  
  
    "Regina?" Emma cocked a brow, folding her arms and canting her hips.  "She's a friend."  
  
    "She isn't what she seems, Emma!  This entire thing with the Gates and her mother, Divines save us!!"  
  
    "Her Ma might be crazy but Regina's alright." she defended, an edge cutting into her tone.  "What's this all about?"  
  
    Snow gawked for a moment.  Could it be possible her daughter hadn't even noticed?  "Emma, she was holding your arm."  
  
    Emma almost slapped a hand to her face, she felt so lost and frustrated.  "Gods, really, Ma?"  
  
    "You don't let anyone but Henry touch you so...so...casually!"  Snow tossed her hands into the air.  "I count it a lucky day when you allow me or your father to hug you!"  
  
    She blushed and now scrubbed at her face.  "I'm not that..." Emma trailed off at the incredulous look she received.  "What are you saying, Ma?"  
  
    It was Snow's turn to flush and she fiddled with her sleeve hems, starting and stopping several times in quick succession before blurting it out.  "Are you sleeping with her?"  
  
    Emma snorted and tried to catch herself however the laughter burst from her lungs like a dam breaking.  Snow's protests were to scoff, blush, and stomp her foot, which only made it worse for the Monk, who needed several minutes before she could breathe like a normal humanoid.  Wiping tears from her eyes, Emma got a few final chuckles in before Snow outright stormed off.  "Oh...oh Gods...that was good, Ma...!"  
  
    "It's a legitimate concern!" Snow squeaked, ten times more embarrassed than ever before in her life.  "Really, Emma, what else was I supposed to think?!"  
  
    Her daughter's grin was positively evil.  "You should know, Ma, I keep that place in Bravil for just those occasions.  I don't really bring 'em home."  
  
    Poor Snow was pure crimson.  "I..."  
  
    Emma spared her, dialing down her smirk to a genuine smile and directing Snow out of general sight.  "You're too easy, sometimes."  Her arm was slapped for that.  "And clearly you've been talking to Ruby.  Regina's pretty touchy-feely, I guess I'm just used to it by now.  We have been traveling together for some time.  Saving the other's life, that sort of thing."  
  
    "Oh...I see."  
  
    Green eyes rolled.  "Get off it.  We're just friends."  
  
    Snow held her tongue on that, ushering them back so a decision could be made.  
  
  
  
    "Didja really almost lose your legs, Ma?"  
  
    Emma batted Henry's pokey fingers away from her legs.  "Yeah, yeah...Regina hit me with an ice spell to keep me from going backwards into a field of 'em."  
  
    "Must'a been really cold!"  
  
    "It's pretty strong." Regina smirked.  "But it has to be to make sure it gets through her thick skin."  
  
    "She's pretty tough." Henry agreed, stretching his legs to keep up with the adults.  "One time she was swimming and August got a hook in her a--"  
  
    "Shoulder." Emma smothered his mouth with a hand.  "Had to wait a damned hour for Doc to show."  
  
    "She had to sleep on her stomach for a few days 'cause it hurt so much!"  
  
    Regina's smirk spoke volumes, especially when Emma flushed a pale pink.  "Must have been quite the...shoulder wound."  
  
    "Oh, kid, it was nothing compared to what happened to Regina after we left the Imperial City.  We went off, tracking an Ogre for some teeth, and her majesty's boot was coming loose.  She sat down to fix it--"  
  
    "And did you know, Henry, that cold spells can freeze _and_ burn at the same time?  I bet I could give your mother a nice reminder of that _shoulder_ wound with the tap of a finger."  
  
    He grasped her right hand, twisting it about in awe.  "That's so cool!"  
  
    Emma made a face.  
  
    "Hi, Henry!"  
  
    He perked and left the adults without question, approaching a young Imperial girl and puffing up his chest.  Emma made a pained face and sighed.  "Leave for two months and the kid's got himself a girlfriend."  
  
    "Paige." Regina nodded, already familiar with the childhood populous thanks to Henry's zealous efforts at showing her off.  "She seems nice."  
  
    "Her Da's off his nut." she snorted.  "Talks to himself, that sort of thing.  Spends most of his time in the Imperial City, making frou-frou hats and clothes."  
      
    "Divine Elegance." Regina smiled.  "I don't think I saw him there when I went in, though."  
  
    Emma shrugged, it was probably for the best.  You could hardly tell they were related through personality.  "Henry likes her and she seems pretty stable.  Kid could do worse."  
  
    "Ah, and here I thought he was sweet on me."  
  
    A smirk.  "He _is_ sweet on you."  
  
    Regina nodded, letting the comment slide until she caught the insult.  She slapped the Monk's shoulder only to claim her arm.  "You're horrible!"  
  
    "I've been called worse."  She bent her left arm just enough for Regina's arm to settle more naturally.  People gave them odd looks but it all rolled right off Emma's back.  "Gonna have to break the news to him soon.  Oblivion might be waiting but Da's right.  The sooner we're done, the sooner we're home."  
  
    "I wonder if I'll go back to Skyrim after all this is done."  
  
    Emma ignored the clench of her gut.  "Reclaim your kingdom?"  
  
    "Kingdom?  Oh, no, no, nothing like that.  Whatever my mother should leave behind, I will be glad to let another claim."  A wistful smile touched her lips.  "Though I wouldn't mind a small steading...maybe to raise horses.  The Skyrim breed is so much stronger than these Cyrodiil prancers."  
  
    "You could mix them."  
  
    Regina smirked.  "I could.  North meets South and eventually the weakness can be bred out of the children."  
  
    Emma pulled a face.  "Well when you say it like that..."  
  
    "I could just stay here.  Cyrodiil is nice, if a little warm.  The Argonians are certainly of better temper."  
  
    "You could stay with us."  
  
    Silence followed and Emma's gut dropped around her ankles.  Why had she said that?  A woman of Regina's breeding had no right doing more than passing through their collection of mud-caked hovels and certainly was due finer things!  By the tales she'd heard, Emma knew Regina could easily scoop up a Jarl's son and live comfortably with silverware, velvet, and a house that was always warm and bright.  With its own bard.  
  
    And real floors.  
  
    "I suppose I could.  In Skyrim I would miss Henry.  He's such a bright boy."  
  
    "And more trouble than me sometimes."  
  
    Earthen eyes slid to the side.  "Oh I think you have that market cornered, dear."  
  
    Emma just smirked.  
  
    "I...would miss you, too, I think."  Her cheeks pinked when Emma cocked a brow at her.  "In spite of your brash, uncouth, Orcish nature, you are Henry's mother and," she paused, mulling over the words until they rang true and lacked the hollow tang of prior years, "Well, I consider you a friend."  
  
    Emma nudged Regina with her elbow.  "Flatter me all you want, you still have to help me break the news to Henry."  
  
      
  
  
  
     ** _WHAP_**  
  
    Muttering that sounded suspiciously like muted curses prompted Emma to turn and cock a brow.  She put two and two together at the sight of Regina holding her nose next to a gangly descent of Harrada Root.  The Royal glared before Emma could speak.  "Shut up."  
  
    In true fashion, she disobeyed.  "I _told_ you to leave the damn weeds alone."  
  
    "I want to see what it mixes with."  
  
    "Ground up Daedra penis.  Doesn't everyone know that?"  
  
    Regina rolled her eyes, stepped to the side, and cut off a hank of twitchy root wth a cold slice.    
  
    "You can only find it here, anyway."  
  
    "A few people have managed to make it grow in Nirn."  
  
    "Through what?  Human sacrifices?"  
  
    "Don't step on the Spiddle Sticks, dear."  
  
    Emma rolled her eyes and side-stepped the flowers, tapping an arrow against her bow.  "It's been quiet."  
  
    "One would think that a blessing."  
  
    "In Nirn, sure," she frowned, taking a shot.  Several steps ahead, she watched a minefield explode, her one target ricocheting its parts straight into its fellows.  A satisfied smirk touched her lips.    
  
    "Afraid something big is looming ahead?"  
  
    Emma sighed, glancing at the cut on Regina's left cheek.  She hadn't healed it, to preserve magica, but it bothered the Monk.  In fact, for the last four portals, not including their current sojourn, Emma had been on edge.  Three days now they had spent clearing Leyawiin's Gates and while the fame was interesting and the money good for Daedric bits, Oblivion had been very mild and even...kind.  The loot was exquisite, evident in the gleaming Elven curiass and boots Emma boasted, but the monstrosities were tepid; all but content to fall over and die for them.  
  
    "Who's the golden boy?"  
  
    Regina paused, head snapping to the side with clear confusion.  "Golden Boy?"  
  
    "Yeah...little creep your Ma keeps as a pet."  
  
    A snort.  "He's hardly a pet."  
  
    "So you know him."  
  
    "He was my teacher, for a while."  
  
    A Daedroth interrupted but two sharp snaps of Emma's bow and he was down before Regina's Atronach could reach him.  "Your teacher in what?"  
  
    Regina sighed, expression shadowed when she nodded to the dancing Atronach.  "He was the one to show me how to call creatures from Oblivion and how to mix poisons.  He taught my mother much of what she knows but they became enemies.  So for them to be working together..."  
  
    "We are fucked."  
  
    "Language."  
  
    Emma took a swig of the water skin in her pack while casting an incredulous look at her friend.  "Did you really just chastise me for cursing?  In Oblivion?"  
  
    "Henry has picked up on far too much of it." she scowled.  "The...variety that he can compose is astounding."  
  
    An odd prickle of pride skittered over Emma's shoulders, drew her to a smirk.  
  
    "That's nothing to be proud of, Swan." Regina huffed, taking long strides through the now-barren path and waving Emma up.  "Only a Clannfear."  
  
    "Not even an Atronach." She pulled one of her finer arrows and stealth-slayed from afar.  "At least that holds some challenge."  
  
    They paused so Regina could cut the claws off.  "You were first worried that we would die horrible deaths and now your concern is that Oblivion is becoming a walk through the garden?  Small wonder you're always on the move if you're so discontent."  
  
    Emma snorted but didn't deny the accusation as they pressed on.  "What else did he teach you?"  
  
    Regina mulled over the question while the Monk frowned at the bloody scrawl over the latest tower's doorway.  They were beginning to understand some combinations of Daedric runes meant places best to avoid, for the sake of stomach and sanity.  "He showed me how to remove hearts..."  
  
    Emma shook her head at the runes.  "Another meat locker.  You mean like you do with the Kynreeves?"  
  
    "Less bloody than your method, dearie!"  
  
    Emma was knocked and drawn in the space between heartbeats, glowering down the shaft of an arrow.  "Well, well...all the snakes come out to play.  What do you want now?"  
  
    "I've been told you're having an easy time of it." He grinned.  "We've been a bit distracted with preparations - welcoming a princess back into the fold does take some planning."  
  
    "I already told you, she's not going with you!" she growled, stepping before Regina.  
  
    She almost loosed the shot when Regina touched her and said, "Will it end all this?"  
  
    Emma's head snapped to the right, aghast.  "Don't tell me you're thinking of--"  
  
    "Will it end this?" Regina repeated, her tone more firm.  "Will my Mother stop attacking Cyrodiil?"  
  
    Her steps took her out from Emma's protection and nearly into the Monk's shot.  Rumpel grinned, always fucking grinning such that Emma wanted to beat out every one of his crocodile teeth.  "Indeed, dearie, Cora will stop attacking Cyrodiil...eventually.  Ah, with Mother and Daughter leading the way, peace can come all the sooner!"  
  
    He extended his arm to take but withdrew it as an arrow shot through his loose sleeve.  Emma smirked at his scowl.  "Slipped."  
  
    A wave of his hand and her bow snapped in two.  Emma yelped and dropped the shattered weapon, stomping towards him with murderous intent.  Regina's hand over her heart stopped her steps.  The look in her dark eyes made Emma's blood run cold.  "I can stop this.  Maybe even faster than one city at a time."  
  
    "Don't you fucking dare." Emma snarled, pressing Regina's hand down with her own.  "We are doing this _together_!"  
  
    "Yes, yes, by all means if you wish the suffering of Cyrodiil's people to continue, dearies!" Rumpel giggled.  "The Daedric Lords have eternity to laugh at your pithy efforts!"  
  
    "Shut up!" the Monk snapped.  
  
    "Your Mother does miss you so, Regina."  
  
    Regina swallowed and an old emotion shifted in the depths of her eyes.  
  
    Something in Emma cracked and she came around the Sorceress, launching an open palm for the middle of the golden-bastard's chest.  She couldn't remove hearts any 'elegant' way but she could damn well stop one with a well-place impact.  Rumpel vanished in a swirl of black ash, reappearing in front of Regina.  Emma wheeled, appearing triumphant when his fingers touched the brocade over his chest.  "Think about it, dearie.  Join your Mother, end this now before anyone else you care for gets hurt."  
  
    Rumpel vanished before Emma could gain ground for another attempt.  "Are you alright?" she asked instead, holding Regina by the arms and looking her over.  "Did he hurt you?!"  
  
    Regina pushed Emma away with more force than she was physically capable of.  The use of magic stung the Monk but she set it aside.  "Regina?"  
  
    "We need to close the Gate.  It's the last one."  
  
    "Right..." Emma breathed, frowning at the remnants of her bow.  
  
  
  
  
    "We should move Henry."  
  
    Emma cocked a brow, pausing in her stirring of the mashed potatoes that sounded much more appetizing than they looked.  Her companion had been mostly silent since Rumpel's disappearance and Emma felt that old tug in her guts that allowed her the endurance to stay up all night.  Granted, the Gate had closed and left them in the mid-morning but, details.  She was dog-tired but would keep a watch if it meant keeping Regina from running off to psycho-land in some vainglory attempt at world-peace.  "What do you mean?" she mumbled around a spoonful of the mash.  Thankfully, it tasted better than it looked.  
  
    Regina poked at her own food, coming down from her thoughts.  "I mean we should move him into a city.  Walls, towers, guards."  
  
    "No one to talk to?"  
  
    Her attempt at levity was met with a scowl.  "Somewhere safe.  If everyone else wants to stay in your village, that's fine, but you should at least move your son into a city.  Ruby mentioned you have a home in Bravil?"  
  
    "I have a shack in Bravil." she clarified, wondering what spell Regina cast to suddenly loosen so many tongues!  "Henry is _not_ staying there.  End of story."  
  
    Regina blinked and nodded as she cut a bite of ham away from the steak.  "Do you have any other homes?  I noticed the guards here have no issues smiling at you."  
  
    Emma mentally cringed.  "Why do you want to move Henry so badly?"  
  
    "Isn't it obvious?" she huffed.  "Somehow they know I've built ties here, that...that I'm not alone..."  
  
    There was wonder and embarrassment in her tone.  Emma just smiled at her food and kept eating.  
  
    "Anyway, they will use that against me.  If I can avoid it, I'd rather he not get hurt or pulled into this war."  
  
    "And I'm chopped liver?" she smirked, getting her arm slapped.  
  
    "You can fight.  Henry shouldn't have to."  
  
    "What about Ruby?  Graham?  Ma?"  
  
    "Like I said, they can choose to stay or they can try and hole up in a city."  
  
    "How long do you think this will go on for?"  
  
    "...not long."  
  
    There was that far-off tone again, the one that suggested Regina was about to fly the coop and Emma best have a sharp eye on her.  "So... **we** are fighting.  Right?"  
  
    "Of course."  
  
    Emma dragged the Sorceress' plate away, getting a scowl but also eye-contact.  "You are not going to join them."  
  
    "It may be my only choice, in the end."  
  
    "Bullshit."  
  
    Regina reclaimed her plate.  "You don't know anything about it."  
  
    "So explain it to me!" she tossed up her hands, running them down her face with an aggravated hiss.  "You clearly have an idea of what is happening, fill me in!"  
  
    "I don't _know_ anything."  Her tone screamed for caution.  The inn was close-quarters enough and gossip was at an all-time high what with their fanclub hovering at all hours.  "I have some ideas, though."  
  
    Emma fought off a roll of her eyes, gritting her teeth instead.  "O-kaaay.  So tell me your _ideas_."  
  
    "Can we just finish eating?"  
  
    Gods, she was lucky Emma had just enough control to not flip the damn table.  Just enough.  She sighed and hunched over her food, elbowing over much of the tabletop to aggravate the princess.  "Sometimes you really make me miss Mirabelle."  
  
    "What does _that_ mean?"  
  
    "She just makes _sense_.  All the damn time."  
  
    "She's a _horse_ , Miss Swan."  
  
    Emma set her left knuckles to her forehead, resuming her food-prodding.  "I don't have a house here...technically."  
  
    "Stop muttering like a sullen child."  
  
    Her knuckles blanched white, the spoon snapping in half.  Emma lifted her head and spoke very, very softly.  "I'm going to go see a friend about housing.  Move from this spot and I swear to Akatosh I will find you and break your fool legs."  
  
    Having never been threatened so blatantly before, let alone by someone so angry at her, Regina paled and nodded.  Emma left, each motion an exercise in command over every muscle.  It chilled the Sorceress such that the idea of swapping chairs, just to be a bitch about it, didn't even cross her mind.  She was graced with reprieve when people began to drop by the table to hear of Oblivion or awe at her for having survived.  Over two hours it became a steady flow of peasantry and upper-middle class eager to hear the tales however she couldn't have missed it when Emma returned.  
  
    Warm fingertips brushed over the back of her neck, setting every hair on edge, before Emma settled into her chair, smiling a mile-wide in a far better mood than she'd left.  "I see you agreed with my advice."  
  
    "Hmph.  This is her?"  
  
    An Orc dropped into the until-then empty third seat, hands flopping onto her thighs while she gave Regina several once-overs.  Her armor was a gleaming set of well-loved ebony, all the gold filagree still shining, and she still had all her fangs.  Regina gave an equal stare back, adding a touch of raised-chin to emphasize.  By her fangs, either the Orc was soft or she was really, really good at avoiding going face-first, as most Orc's did.  "I am her.  Regina."  
  
    A hand was not offered by either party, which made Emma snicker.  "Sir Mazoga, Knight Errant of Leyawiin.  Sir Emma says you're some kind of Sorceress?"  
  
    Oh that was...just perfect.  Emma even flinched a little at the title and Regina's tiny smirk led her to the correct conclusion that the tables were once more turned.  "Yes, _Sir_ Emma is correct."  
  
    "Huh...so you make fire and summon creepy things?"  
  
    Regina grinned wide.  "Oh yes.  I can also water-walk, blend in, control creatures, and even destroy your armor with a touch."  
  
    Her ankle was kicked but it was worth it to watch the Orc hold to her armor like it might melt off at any second.  Mazoga huffed a laugh when she realized it wasn't something done simply by talking to a Sorceress.  "Well, ain't that cute?  Sir Emma tells me you want to hide someone?"  
  
    No.  Absolutely not, Emma couldn't possibly be serious!  As Regina blanched, Emma took up words.  "Eh, not exactly hide but I need you to do me a huge favor.  As a fellow Knight.  It's a good deed times ten."  
  
    Magic words it seemed for Mazoga grinned, there wasn't much in life more alarming than a beaming Orc, and sat upright, slapping her palms on the table.  "Great!  What can I do to help?"  
  
    Regina cleared her throat, hoping and praying that Emma knew just what the hell she was doing.  "Er...well, the person we need protected is a young boy.  Her son, in fact."  
  
    "You have a kid?"  
  
    Emma sighed but nodded.  After their initial escapade that earned them titles, shields, and a place to bunk, Emma just hadn't had the time to sit down and be a true buddy to her Orc-friend.  "Ehyeah...he's a good kid.  Smart as Zenithar and twice the trouble for it."  
  
    "This have to do with the Gates?"  
  
    "In a way." Regina interjected.  "He is living somewhere exposed right now...we just want to keep him safer."  A smile, one less disarming.  "What better place than at the side of a Knight?"  
  
    Mazoga grunted, twisting the broken spoon head around until she nodded.  "Good.  Bring the boy to me, I'll keep him safe."  
  
    "No weapons."  
  
    Emma's jaw clacked shut and an eyebrow hiked when she looked to the Sorceress.  Regina blushed under the scrutiny.  "He doesn't need weapons training."  
  
    The Monk inclined her head.  "Right, he's learned to fight with his fists.  Like me."  
  
    She and the Orc shared a smirk and raised a fist, tapping their knuckles lightly.  Regina rolled her eyes.  "Barbarians."  
  
    "Tch!" Mazoga snerked, nodding towards Regina.  "Your wife knows you well."  
  
    "Eh?" Emma blushed, not even daring to look at Regina.  "Er, Magora...she's not...!"  
  
    The Orc glanced between them for several quiet moments, sighing a deep breath and shrugging her shoulders.  "If you say."  
  
    "W-We should go...to get Henry."  
  
    "Right!" Emma all but jumped to her feet.  "We should be back in a couple of days.  I'll meet you at the lodge?"  
  
    "Since you came to town, no one has had anything for me to do." she smirked, gaining her feet with more grace.  "I will stock extra supplies.  Does the boy have your stomach?"  
  
    "Yes."  
  
    Emma made a face at Regina, who laughed with Mazoga.  
  
  
  
    Regina fled the inn only to run straight into Graham.  
  
    "Whoa, there..." he steadied her, flinching slightly at the sheer volume coming from behind the door.  "Another family _discussion_?"  
  
    "Unlike any I've known." she breathed, smiling as she held her balance.  "Thank you."  
  
    "Sure." he smiled, hooking his thumbs in his belt.  "I wondered why Emma wanted Henry off with Archie today.  I hope he stays there."  
  
    "Is he?  I think I might find him, then."  
  
    "I'll go with you, my Lady." he gestured in the general direction they were to head.  Regina inclined her head and kept pace.  "I never did thank you properly for my freedom, high...er, Regina."  
  
    "That you live is enough for me." she replied graciously.  
  
    He chuckled.  "None the less, if you should have need of me, you have but to ask, no matter how small.  I...understand what a risk you took upon yourself."  
  
    She cocked a brow.  "Are you pledging yourself to me?"  
  
    "If it pleases you."  
  
    The reply was neutral but knowing what he was, Regina didn't want to tie him down.  Still, it never hurt to have allies in low places - one of her Father's lessons.  "I have no need of servants or staff as I am but I will keep your offer in mind."  
  
    Graham nodded, as much to himself as to Nicholas, who was rolling up his pant legs in preparation for stepping into the watery rice field.  The fields were a little uneven in the terrain but were still workable.  Further on were a few fruit trees and small vegetable fields, which is where they found Archie and Henry.  They also found the moody pair of pups that had apparently adopted Regina.  
  
    Upon sight of Regina, the wolves raced around the field and hurried over to her, nuzzling at her hands and legs.  Against Graham's advice, she knelt down and received a dozen licks to the face while she rubbed at their ears and necks.  "Hello, pups!"  
  
    "She never did like dogs in the home."  
  
    Regina's glare was pulled off-course by an eager shout.  
  
    "Regina!"  
  
    Both wolves perked and sobered, standing beside their adopted mistress protectively as Henry bounded over, covered in dirt and tentatively balancing an adult-sized rake.  She reached out to steady it while Henry attempted to clean his arms with his shirt.  "Hey!  I thought you were gonna be in the meeting too!"  
  
    "Oh, you know about the meeting?"  
  
    He rolled his eyes.  "Duh!  They think I can't but sometimes you can hear 'em all the way out here!"  
  
    Regina would believe it.  Though it was only Emma and her parents, the volume and fervor was beyond reason.  "Yes, well I'm sure they don't intend it.  Your mother is just...very adamant."  
  
    "A damn ant?"  
  
    "A-da-mant." she sounded it out.  "It means stubborn."  
  
    "What are they fighting about this time?"  
  
    Graham produced a kerchief, dipped it in the bucket of water that the wolves were drinking from, and handed it to Henry.  "No one knows yet.  We'll find out when they get tired."  
  
    Of course, Regina knew but whether or not to tell Henry, that was the question.  She smiled when he began to scrub at his arms and face with vigor.  "Here, Henry."  
  
    She knelt and helped him out, gently cleaning a spot near his eyes and a wider swatch under his chin.  "Are you guys leaving soon?" he mumbled around her work.  
  
    Regina paused, presumably to look over her progress.  "Most likely.  I wish we could stay."  
  
    "Are you gonna stay when you come back?"  
  
    She smiled and leaned forward to embrace him, his now-clean arms squeezed tight around her neck.  "We'll see."  
  
    "I hope you stay." Henry drew back, looking a bit more lively.  "You'll like it, promise!  Right, Graham?"  
  
    The werewolf smiled, hands on hips.  "If young Master Henry says so, you can take that to market."  
  
    "Regina, yes?"  
  
    Her eyes shot up to regard the gangly farmer addressing her.  His eyes were kind but that sort of thing always put Regina on edge and she hesitated before replying.  "I am."  
  
    "Archie, Archie Hopper.  I don't think we met when you arrived."  
  
    "I was a little engaged with Henry." she admitted, smiling down at the boy when one of the wolves attempted to nudge him away.  "He's quite adventurous."  
  
    "He's a good boy." was the diplomatic reply.  "If only August were more like him."  
  
    The irony of August being the son of a Bosmer carpenter had never been lost on Regina.  A smile pulled at her lips at the thought.  "He is one of the oldest children here, perhaps he is just ready for more responsibility."  
  
    Archie's own smile was tempered, patient; as though Regina were someone simple.  True, she had no idea what age children outside a scullery or stable did during the day but it was best to seem optimistic.  People here liked that.  
  
    "Ah, Henry...!" Graham warned, wrapping a large palm around the wolf muzzle that held Henry's arm.  The fur under his hand twitched and the wolf growled at him.  Graham returned the favor with a showing of sharp teeth and Henry's arm was immediately loosed.  
  
    Henry frowned at his appendage, twisting it around.  "He wasn't gonna hurt me!"  
  
    "None the less." the dark man chided.  "Their games are much too rough for you, Henry."  
  
    The child sulked and Regina thought back to Emma, how she'd rolled with the dogs and endured their teeth and claws, coming out mostly unscathed.  Henry, though, was small enough to be considered a good and easy meal for two wolves should they be tempted.  "Do you still require him?" she asked.  
  
    Archie straightened up only to sag his weight once more.  "I suppose we're far enough along..."  
  
    Graham glanced between them, shrugging.  "If you need more hands, I can always help."  
  
    "Good.  Come along, Henry."  
  
    His elation was tamped down by confusion at her imperious tone.  "Where're we goin'?"  
  
    "To rescue your Mother...or your Grandparents."  Regina caught movement in her peripheral and turned, jabbing a finger at the ground.  "You, stay!"  
  
    Her wolf brothers already had their ears back and heads low but they sunk to laying down at Regina's command.  Graham gawked unabashedly and Archie turned away with a suspicious hitch of his shoulders.  
  
    When Regina resumed her walk, there were several mournful, short howls and high-pitched barks.  Henry glanced back and then up to Regina.  "They seem sad."  
  
    She didn't roll her eyes but stopped and half-turned back to the troublemakers, snapping her fingers.  "Come on, then!"  
  
    They sprang forward.  
  
  
  
  
    "I had time to think about it, it makes sense!"  
  
    "If this is some...some way of telling us we're not good enough...!"  
  
    Emma cracked her knuckles against the table that had been bearing the brunt of their argument.  "It has nothing to do with you!"  
  
    "We have kept him safe for years, Emma!" Snow volleyed back.  "Any time you left in the night, without so much as a goodbye, we have been here to pick up the pieces!"  
  
    Charming picked up on her next thoughts, much to Emma's annoyance.  Whatever love her parents shared could border on cloying and suffocating at times.  "Now you tell us we can't protect him after that's all we've done when you abandon him?!"  
  
    Oh.  To be fair, even if Snow had been thinking it, she was never so heavy-handed as to lay it out.  Emma's fortress-thick walls instantly shored themselves up again.  "Yeah, you're so goddamn good at it, I just have to keep getting a taste of it for myself!"  
  
    Charming slunk back as though wounded, rubbing at his throat.  Snow leaned on the opposite side of the table, wondering how many more times they would have to do this.  "That isn't fair, Emma.  You know that's not what we--"  
  
    "That is _exactly_ what you did!" she growled.  "For ten years you two had your freedom to fight your damn war, secure in the knowledge that I was imprisoned oh-so-safely!"  
  
    "I wasn't going to drag a child on the path of war!"  
  
    "Well guess what, Ma?!" Emma laughed, spreading her arms wide.  "Lookit what they made me!"  
  
    Snow pushed away to pace, catching her breath after the one point Emma knew she couldn't deny.  "We're getting off-topic here."  
  
    "I'm taking him.  That's that.  I decided to tell you two out of some strange sense of courtesy but rather than support me for spear-heading Henry's safety, you're dragging me through the mud!"  
  
    "Don't walk away from us, young lady!"  
  
    "Or what?" she challenged over her shoulder.  When she heard Charming crossing the inn, she turned around and smirked.  He stopped, a moment's hesitation, but Emma saw and knew and, gods, she laughed.  "How does it feel?" she grinned.  "Being terrified of your own flesh and blood?"  
  
    All went quiet, which made the creak of the inn door sound akin to a clap of thunder.  Henry poked his head in the door, grinning nervously.  Gods, when had he lost that tooth?  Emma's cloud of emotions dispersed, allowing her to approach the door, scoop her son up, and hug him tightly.  He actually hugged her back.  "Y'okay, Ma?"  
  
    "Yeah, ki-Henry...I'm alright."  
  
    "Would you mind cooking up something for lunch?"  
  
    Regina.  Emma cocked a brow at her over Henry's shoulder.  He hadn't let go and she wasn't in any hurry for him to.  "Bog Beacon Surprise?" she croaked, throat unused to such softer tones after an hour of screaming.  
  
    "Something edible."  
  
    A moment waited for them and Emma felt the compulsion to do something.  Whatever it was, however, escaped her and time moved on.  Her feet carried her away from the inn, away from Regina, but a laugh caught her when Henry poked her in the back.  "Is Regina taking over the meeting?"  
  
    Emma chuckled, low and decidedly evil.  "Yeah, kid, I think she is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, sorry for the long break! I just...there was this dual-portal-device just...sitting here. Every white surface became a target so you can imagine the sorts of trouble I had in the Imperial City! And then the lovely GlaDOS whispering sweet insults and threats of bodily harm into my ears...SPAAACE!
> 
> Anyway. :) I haven't had anything really exciting happen in Oblivion yet other than the introduction of the Spider monstrosities and their spiteful offspring. I'm a pretty decent WoW Tank so I tend to aggro and kite them where there is more space to flee the tiny devils. I did kill the Unicorn today (okay, well, a bear did it 'cause I couldn't bring myself to do more than introduce trouble and my heart still broke) but thank god for console commands 'cause that beast is important to me later!
> 
> Emma just might be starting to wonder if there's something to what everyone so clearly sees while Regina is being tempted to the Dark-Side in a potential coup to 'end the crisis'. Tune in next time when we'll go back to where this all began!


	13. Warming Up

    Emma sunk to about her knees before she was saved by Regina grasping her shirt.  "Thanks..."  
  
    "You can just say no if you don't want to hold my hand."  
  
    "I didn't want to disappoint the ki-Henry, don't go far!"  
  
    He waved in a 'yeah, yeah' motion from the shore and nearly slipped when he hopped onto the cobblestone road.  Regina sighed as they stepped onto land, releasing Emma and filling her empty hand with a rucksack strap.  "You're sure this is a good idea?"  
  
    "She's not gonna eat him, Regina."  
  
    "I'm more worried he will get into whatever stash of weapons she's hiding."  
  
    "She's not a criminal..." Emma rubbed at her eyes, wondering not for the first time why she was bothering to justify her choices in this matter.  "Remember what I said?  She was raised on those ridiculous bardic tales of knights and chivalry and all that crap.  Probably knight Henry for kicking mudcrabs off the shore."  
  
    "She's an Orc."  
  
    "You got on with Uzul just fine."  
  
    "And you told me you haven't spent much time with Mazoga.  Pardon my concern while you shove Henry into the protection of a monstrous Orc whose idea of 'protection' doesn't come into play until blood is spilt!"  
  
    Emma palmed her temples, growling through her teeth.  "Seriously?  Were you not just defending me from my parents?  You couldn't have brought all this to the table **before** we went water-walking?!"  
  
    "I'm just worried."  
  
    "He's not yours to worry about!"  
  
    Regina went mute, stricken, and Emma hunched over, glaring at the road while refusing to allow any gnawing guilt to poison her heart.  Silence wedged between them all the way, pushing them apart on the road, enough that Henry had plenty of space to either side when walking between them.  Fortunately for them, he was too excited about the Orc he'd almost run down to question the gap.  "Ma!  Ma!  She's _HUGE_!!"  
  
    Emma chuckled, the sound forced.  "Yeah, kid.  Orcs are big."  
  
    Mazoga leaned against the lodge, smirking at Henry's exuberance.  When she looked to Emma, though, she glanced all the way over to Regina and back and her smile faded.  "Good evening."  
  
    Regina tilted her head in acknowledgement but hung back, remaining on the cobbles while Emma nudged Henry forward.  The blonde pressed a stuffed rucksack into Henry's hands.  "G'wan and unpack."  
  
    "Kay.  Regina, you wanna help me?"  
  
    There was a moment of hesitation but Regina offered a smile to him and followed him into the small lodge.  Mazoga waited for the door to close before shaking her head.  "What have you done?"  
  
    "Huh?"  
  
    "She's upset."  
  
    "When is she not upset?  Shorter list."  
  
    "Far be it from me to point this out, Sir Emma-"  
  
    "Don't call me that."  She scowled, shuffling restlessly.  "What do you care, anyway?"  
  
    Mazoga's smirk threatened to come back, twitching at the corners of her lips.  "It is, of course, in your best interests to keep your wife happy.  Especially your First Wife.  All Orcs know this."  
  
    Emma didn't glorify the mocking with a reply.  "Henry!  We're leaving!"  
  
    He didn't reappear immediately but emerged a minute later chattering excitedly about the battered training dummy.  Apparently there was an axe buried in its chest and he couldn't pull it free.  "Just be sure you let Mazoga handle the heavy lifting for now." Regina cautioned.  
  
    As with all young boys, it went immediately ignored.  "By the time you guys come back, I'm gonna have huge muscles!"  
  
    He flexed the limits of his arms and Regina chuckled.  Emma sighed, glancing at the Orc.  "Don't let him hurt himself, yeah?"  
  
    "Aw, Ma!  I'm not stupid!"  
  
    Mazoga ruffled Henry's already unruly locks, smiling when he batted her arm away.  "Fear not.  He will return to you in one piece."  
  
    "Hey, can you bring me back a Daedra Heart?!"  
  
    Emma made a face.  "We're going now.  Shouldn't be gone for too long."  
  
    "You should see the Count.  I'm sure he would offer you horses."  
  
    The monk opened her mouth to protest but Henry spoke up first.  "Then you can be back sooner!"  
  
    Effectively shot down, Emma frowned.  "Y'know me and horses don't get on, kid."  
  
    "Regina likes 'em!" he replied as though that answered every question in the world.  "She's way good at riding horses and said she had a big Skyrim horse once!"  
  
    Mazoga grunted and nudged Henry towards the lodge.  "I'll get him settled in, you two hurry back."  
  
    "Bye!" Henry threw himself at Regina, hugging her around the waist before fleeing back to the lodge.  Emma turned tail, storming towards the walls of Leyawiin.    
  
    "Henry!" Regina tried but received nothing past the slam of the lodge door.  She hurried after Emma, keeping pace with the long strides without complaint.  
  
  
      
    The Count was happy to lend them horses.  He had a royal stable lined with rich-coated Bays, each with a unique saddle and a groom that was a bloody horse-magician.  All were well fed and cared to the point of being parade-ready.  
  
    However the horses he was willing to lend out to them were Paints.  And not Mirabelle Paints, no, no.  The beasts pulled from the rotting stables were bad-tempered **biters**.  Emma's mount continually attempted to snag her toes in his teeth while Regina's tried to buck her twice before they even left the corral.  "Small wonder these stupid animals haven't sold!" the Monk groused, fighting the urge to kick the horse's face as it swung towards her boot once more.  "It's what you get for letting cats break them."  
  
    "They've been used as farm animals, not as proper riding horses."  Regina chided.  She could see the scars from whip and claw that had...motivated her steed.  "I wouldn't want to take them into a fight but if we stay on the road they should feel better about us in a day or two."  
  
    "A day or two and this horse is gonna be dinner."  
  
    "You wouldn't dare."  
  
    "Yeah, right." she growled, shuffling away from the biting teeth yet again.  
  
    "If you'd stop fidgeting like a child, he would leave you alone.  You're likely hurting him with all that moving..."  Regina fell into a moment of thought, frowning as she dismounted.  "Get down."  
  
    "You do remember what it took for me to get up here, right?"  
  
    "Get down or I will pull you off."  
  
    "What's the problem?" Emma groused, sliding from the saddle with a profound lack of grace.  She bounced lightly on her toes, blinking as reigns were shoved into her face.    
  
    "Here.  Keep him steady."  
  
    "By...?"  
  
    The eyeroll was as audible as it was visual.  "Keep his head from turning.  I'm going to check the saddle."  
  
    "Isn't that the job of the cats?"  
  
    "Khajiit."  
  
    "Right.  Cats."  
  
    A sigh, out of sight.  Regina felt around gently, loosening the girth and noting the stallion's immediate relief.  He sighed deeply and stopped pawing.  "That's better, hm?" she gave his hip a firm pat.  
  
    "We're never saving the world."  
  
    "This is why horses don't like you."  
  
    "Charming wit?"  
  
    "Derision."  
  
    Emma was silent for several minutes, giving Regina the opportunity to prod around the saddle and pitiful blanket.  She heard the Monk snort.  "The hell does that even mean?"  
  
    Straightening, Regina leveled a glare at her companion.  "It means you don't respect them.  At all."  
  
    "Maybe we could talk out our issues just like you two have if he'd stop using his jaws to take off my toes."  
  
    "My point." she grumbled, lifting the blanket and delicately shifting the saddle away.  Regina sucked a breath in through her teeth.  "Like I thought."  
  
    "What, horse-whisperer?"  
  
    Thankfully she was too caught up in the sight to lob insults.  "He's got a large sore here, on his back, near his withers.  When you put pressure on it by leaning forward, it hurts and he bites to make you move back."  
  
    "Great.  Not only do we get discount horses but they're broken."  
  
    "The are not broken!"  
  
    Emma blinked, startled.  "Uh...okay."  
  
    Regina fumed but channeled her irritation into soothing the stallion while she removed the saddle, letting it drop while she carefully peeled the blanket away.  "Oh...just one.  You're a lucky boy."  
  
    His skin twitched and he swung his head around to watch but he was still and, most importantly, not biting.  Emma glowered at him.  "This mean we're walking?"  
  
    "I checked my mare before we left, she seems to be alright if we need to ride double.  Why didn't you check him before mounting?"  
  
    Green eyes rolled.  "Four legs, head, tail, and a saddle, what else would I give a damn about if I want to **walk** everywhere anyway?"  
  
    "You can't even treat an _animal_ with respect.  That's probably half the issue with Henry."  
  
    "Horses are for quick getaways and carrying your junk, kid knows that."  A snort.  "They're not friends or allies or creatures you carry on conversations with!"  
  
    Regina stalked up and yanked the reigns from Emma's hand, turning the stallion towards the Niben.  "I noticed you have no such troubles with dogs."  
  
    Powerful arms folded themselves over Emma's chest.  "Dogs are hunters and companions.  They are literally man and mer's best friend.  Everyone knows that."  
  
    "How could I expect more from an Orc-brain like yours?" Regina snarked, wading back into the river and easing the stallion along with her.  He took to the water with surprising ease, content to wade in up to his chest before he tossed his head.  "You treat everything as if it were beneath you; your parents and even your own son."  
  
    "Watch your goddamned mouth."  
  
    She tore part of her sleeve off, one of Emma's shirts, to soak it in the riverwater.  Without a glance to the Monk, Regina began to wash the sore, grimacing as one faint touch forced a yellow pustule to burst.  How Emma had been able to mount and get this far down the road without the rancid fluid escaping was a miracle.  "Or what?  You'll forbid me from seeing him?  Last I recall, you were desperate for me to talk to him."  
  
    "Yeah, and he only opens up to me around you.  Fuck all that does for me.  You'll run back to your Ma's skirts like some sacrificial lamb and he'll still think I'm the damned Brotherhood!"  
  
    "I am not running anywhere." she growled, keeping her eyes on the wound.  A brief wash seemed to be clearing up quite a bit of it but there were bits of raw tissue exposed.    
  
    "You would have disappeared with Golden Boy if I wasn't there to stop you.  And you wanna talk about parents?  Whoever here has a mother making deals with Daedric Lords to end the world, please raise your hand."  She glanced around, dripping mockery.  "Horse One...no?  Maybe you, Horse Two?  No?  We seem to be running out of hands here, Regina.  How about you raise one to the cause?"  
  
    "You're a selfish child!"  The stallion side-stepped away from her angry tone, prompting Regina to turn around.  "The Emperor is dead, destroyed by an unholy alliance that is trying to force Oblivion upon Tameriel, and you are stuck here whining about horses!"  She threw the stained bit of sleeve at the Monk, not batting a lash when it fluttered to the ground, several feet from its target.  "Poor, poor Emma Swan.  You son starves for your affections while your people bathe in your benevolence with each satchel of gold you bring."    
  
    Regina turned back to the stallion, pressed her hands around the angry sore.  Pale light squeezed out from under her hands as healing magics poured forth.  "You should know better than any how Henry feels - how it is to be abandoned.  You can't possibly bring enough gold home to make up for ten years without your parents...or to buy Henry's love."  
  
    Fuck Snow and her goddamned flapping gums.  "You don't know anything!"  
  
    "And you know _nothing_ about me!"  
  
    They stared one another down in furious silence for a tense minute, right until Emma began to slosh through the shallows, murder in her eyes.  Regina jabbed a finger at her.  "Try me right now, Swan."  
  
    Emma did not stop but her voice broke, shattering into a soft, desperate plea.  "You're going to take him from me."  
  
    "W-What?"  
  
    A snort.  "One way or another, now that you're here, Henry's already gone."  
  
    "He is still here, Emma..." she blinked, a twinge of nerves twisting her gut as the Monk moved in close.  "Henry loves you."  
  
    Emma smiled, faint and without humor.  "Yeah, I guess.  Let's go put an Emperor on the throne so you can get back.  I'm starting to think a character-building field trip to Skyrim is _just_ what the kid needs, anyway.  Put some weight on his twiggy bones."  
  
    "Only if you come with us," she twisted around once more.  "I am not here to take Henry anywhere.  Least of all from you, Emma.  Henry may not want to admit he loves you but I..." Regina snapped her teeth down between the words, shaking her head.  "I'm going to ride bareback.  The mare is in good enough health to ride saddled."  
  
    After a quiet, ladened moment, they left the Niben and took to their respective mounts.  Emma hauled into the saddle without complaint, the mare far more accomodating to her novice skills and nervous shuffling.  The stallion twitched and stepped about for a minute, adjusting to a new rider and position until he was satisfied - he didn't turn his head around to so much as look at Regina's boots.  
  
    "Maybe Henry and I could help you build that steading.  Take Mirabelle and a couple of others."  At Regina's cocked brow, the Monk clarified.  "Once this is all over...y'know."  
  
    "Is that your way of telling me I can't die?"  
  
    Emma mulled over the answer, falling into stride beside Regina.  "I keep telling you I'd rather you didn't.  Not the way you keep thinking of."  
  
    "Oh?  You have a grand death laid out for me?"  
  
    Glad to be edging away from the emotional minefields, Emma smirked.  "If it's possible to die from attacks of sarcasm, we're gonna find out."  
  
    "If so, you'll be offed first."  
  
    "Keep dreaming, princess."  
  
  
  
    They stopped in Bravil, but only long enough to acquire tools to groom the horses.  Regina balked at the idea of buying new saddles, causing yet another argument that the stablemaster almost shut his door on.  Emma had suggested it in an attempt to make peace but Regina claimed they would use what they had until reaching the Imperial City - there the stallion could be fully healed and ready for a fitting.    
  
    Emma's lack of horsemanship showed in the darkest hours of the night, when the horses were at a mere walk and Regina asleep in the saddle, technically.  The Monk dropped to her feet and wobbled while her legs protested, though they held her up.  "Keep on." she clicked her tongue in a poor immitation of Regina's horse-chatter, though the mare obliged her. 

  
    "Your friend's a real piece of work, y'know?"  She smirked, rubbing the mare's long face.  "Thinking of calling him Bitter.  Maybe you can be Sweet, hm?"  
  
    No reply was received or expected and Emma shook her head, sighing.  "Talking to a horse in the middle of the night.  Losing my mind."  
  
    By the following night, Emma was thoroughly exhausted.  
  
    "You can't sleep on a horse?"  
  
    "Y'know, you don't snore on horseback."  
  
    "I do _not_ snore, period!"  
  
    "Right."  
  
    Regina crossed her arms.  "I can take a watch and not fall asleep.  We've done this before."  
  
    "Yeah..."  Emma scratched her neck.  "Funny thing about that.  You tend to let me sleep all night and then you're tired all day and suddenly I have to drop and roll to keep my hair from burning off."  
  
    "Not my fault you're not paying enough attention.  Aren't friends supposed to protect one another?"  
  
    "I think there's also some obligation to **not** burn them to a crisp, no matter how cranky you are."  
  
    "Details." she waved a hand dismissively.  "Speaking of, I'll start a fire.  You bed down."  
  
    "You didn't even know _how_ to make a campfire before me." Emma grumbled, throwing down her bag with as much noise as possible.  
  
    Regina pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing.  "I'll collect some wood.  Finish setting up camp."  
  
    Emma continued to grouse under her breath while opening Regina's perfectly organized rucksack.  To further her annoyance, it was easier to set out the Sorceress' kit than lay Emma's own bed, which she sat upon and glowered as Regina returned to camp.  "The sun's not even set yet."  
  
    "My, you are ten times the child when you don't get your rest." Regina dropped the armload of wood.  "Perhaps we should stop for naps along the day.  Do you need warm milk before hand?  Or a stuffed toy?"  
  
    "Like I'd need one with you cuddling up to me every time I close my eyes."  
  
    In a flare of telekinesis and light, a merry, if small, campfire was warming their space.    
  
    Emma glanced from the fire to Regina.  "Cute."  
  
    "Get some rest.  You're so insistent upon taking a watch, you can have the second stretch."  
  
    "Where are you going?"  
  
    "Perimeter check."  
  
    "Regina..." she made a face.  "We're ten paces off a main road.  Imperial bloody Guards will be patrolling within sight."  
  
    "And between them, all manners of trouble could stir.  Go to sleep, Emma."  
  
    The blonde settled back on the two furs composing her bedding, linking her fingers behind her head while she regarded the first few stars of the approaching evening.  "You're pretty insistent but if you have designs on me, princess, I'd like to be awake for that."  
  
    Silence was her answer.  
  
      
  
    Emma stirred some time in the night.   The stars were still out and winking at her now that the fire was nearly dead.  "R'gina..." she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes.  Her left arm wouldn't cooperate and she frowned down the length of her body, only to stop at a mop of brown hair.  "Regina." she tried, a little more firmly.  
  
    "S'cold..." the Sorceress muttered sleepily, curling tighter into Emma's arm.  
  
    Instead of ripping her limb free, Emma rolled onto her side.  The new position forced blood down her left arm, to great relief (that's all the reason she sighed, surely), and...well...it was sort of...nice, she supposed; holding the princess away from the chill.  It wasn't a chill Emma felt but then again, she was half Nord.  "It's almost Hearthfire already.  Hopefully we can finish this before Evening Star...I hear travelling up through to Skyrim is a bitch when the blizzards roll in."  
  
    Regina had tensed for a moment, kicked awake by the pressure against her back.  In almost the same moment, though, she relaxed.  Emma wasn't cursing her or shoving her away - she could enjoy it while it lasted.  "Would you really come with me?"  
  
    "In a heartbeat.  I've already spent too long with my parents and their people, time to move on."  
  
    "...could you spend so long a time with me?"  
  
    Emma chuckled, her lips very close to Regina's ear.  "I think you're just irritating enough to keep me."  
  
    Regina's pulse jumped and she twisted her head to glare at Emma.  "Don't joke."  
  
    "Who's joking?" she growled, squeezing with both of her arms and getting a squeak in return.  "Who else is gonna make sure that vein on your forehead threatens to burst whenever you're upset?  It's a heavy responsibility but I've taken it on."  
  
    "Shut up, Swan."  
  
    And she was quiet.  For a minute.  "So...this mean I'm on watch now?"  
  
    A grunt.  
  
    "I'm gonna need my arm if we're attacked."  
  
    Brown eyes cracked open.  
  
    "Or maybe I could just throw you at them.  With all that armor you wear, you could take down a big guy."  
  
    "Are you calling me fat?"  
  
    Shit.  
  
  
  
    With skills in babbling and enough nervous twitches to satisfy Regina's darker side, Emma managed to bungle her way out of trouble.  She made it back to sleep however not without a great deal of mental battle brought on by the way they had their fight without a single fist thrown.  In fact, they barely moved at all.  Emma could hear her mother's voice as though the woman had walked into camp from the dark.  
  
     _What are you doing?  Is...she's touching you!  A-And sleeping!  Emma you're holding her.  Do you know you're holding her?  What's going on here?!_  
  
    The nagging tone, much as it always had in the past, prompted Emma to do the exact opposite of Snow's wishes.  She settled in, shut down her brain, and held Regina a little tighter.  
  
    "These are not prey."  
  
    Green eyes snapped open what felt like a second after they closed, locking on a Khajiit female.  Dawn had arrived with dew on the grass though the three in their camp had chased away the birdsong.  "Get out of here." Emma growled.  A quick glance proved the horses were still anchored nearby.  
  
    "They smell as prey." the Argonian piped up.  
  
    "Bear furs." Emma pointed out, slowly closing her hand around the dagger Regina kept at her lower back.  When the hell had the Sorceress rolled over?!  "Keeps the wolves away."  
  
    The three blinked at that, a new light in their eyes that was not at all reassuring.  While their Bosmer companion was content to lean back against a tree, the beastkin approached.  Emma deliberately withdrew the dagger a few inches, letting the clean blade flash.  They stopped but with smiles.  "You know ways of the wild, pale one.  Vajhira is impressed."  
  
    "Great.  Get lost."  
  
    "Let's go!" the Bosmer called.  "If they won't run scared, they aren't any fun."  She scuffed her boots.  "Shame, too.  I bet the dark one is sweet and soft - they always are if they wear heavy armor."  
  
    "They are not prey."  
  
    "I never promised to give up the Green Pact.  You two always make me defy it!"  
  
    "The Huntsman may wish to see this one.  She is strong."  
  
    Bosmer and Argonian glared at one another, clearly sharing a difference of opinions, while Vajhira flicked her tail and ears.  "Vajhira could take you to him."  
  
    "Who?"  
  
    "The Lord of the Hunt - Hircine."  
  
    Emma snorted.  "I'm already up to my elbows in Daedra issues, I don't want to tangle with another Prince.  Get moving."  
  
    The Bosmer did so without hesitation, disappearing into the trees while the beastkin lingered a few seconds longer, clearly torn about not bring back something to please Hircine.  Emma waited a good ten minutes after they all vanished before relaxing and gently sliding the dagger back home.  
  
    "Oh thank Kynereth."  
  
    Emma physically jumped.  "Damnit, Regina!"  
  
    Dark eyes glittered with amusement.  "I thought you might crush one of my ribs.  Are you always so tense in a fight?"  
  
    "Yeah, so I don't need heavy skins to protect me."  She poked Regina's side, getting her to flinch.    
  
    "Stop that."  A scowl.  "Why are you still laying here?"  
  
    "Up for two days protecting you and two horses?  Tired?  Coming down from the threat of a fight?"  
  
    "Yes but I had first watch."  She sulked.  "That means breakfast is your responsibility."  
  
    "Reginaaa..." she whined.  
  
    "Your rule."  
  
    "Stupid rule.  I didn't even take the second watch!"  
  
    "It's not my fault that you slept through your duties."  
  
    "You cuddle like Henry.  Knocks me out every time." she sighed gruffly.  "Even in sleep, the kid likes to know I'm there."  
  
    "I liked knowing you were there."  
  
    Emma searched but Regina kept her eyes on the ashes of their fire.  "I'm not gonna run off in the night."  
  
    "I know...but..."  She paused to shake her head and rise to her feet.  "Breakfast."  
  
    She made a production of getting up, stretching, and binding her Elven curiass together, laughing when Regina shoved her out of camp.  
  
  
  
    They rode a bit harder that day and Emma only managed to flop from the saddle one time; to her great victory, no matter how Regina laughed.  Rain began falling as the afternoon rolled around and it grew steadily worse and worse until a decision was made to wait it out.  Two Imps proved little resistence as the pair settled in the ruins of Fort Virtue.  They brushed down the horses but spoke little, watching the grey afternoon grow darker and darker until night was clearly arrived.    
  
    "Cold again?" Emma cocked a brow, watching Regina shrug further into her armor.  
  
    "Wet." she clarified.  
  
    "Ah."  And she worked very hard to take the comment at face value.  "...want to set up camp?"  
  
    Regina shook her head.  "I was hopeful we could sleep in a bed tonight."  
  
    "I...see."  Emma swallowed down the 'we'.  She was surely hearing things now!  "We could try and ride but fighting a storm like this would mean giving up an extra day just to let everything dry."  
  
    "We've done that before."  
  
    A nod.  "Well, if you want to."  
  
    "It's horrible but I'm already tired of sleeping on the ground."  
  
    So they saddled up once more and turned into the rain.  
  
    It was slower going, hours longer than it would have taken on a clear day, but they managed to hold on to a sense of direction and the horses' wits; pressing North and using the sound of water slapping the Rumare to guide them.  There were no torches to indicate Weye but it was found by Emma's unnaturally keen sight, filling them with relief as the sharp clop of hooves on stone replaced the dull thud of mud.    
  
    Emma all but beat down the door to the stable master's home, throwing gold at the Orc and shouting to be heard above the rain.  They then rushed through the city gates and straight into the Imperial City's finest hotel: The Tiber Septim.  
  
    Standing at the door, sopping wet and muddy, they must have looked quite the sight for the proprieter pretended to not see them for a few minutes.  Emma hobbled on alternate feet while pulling her boots off to empty them of water.  Regina squished her way across the floor and slammed a purse of coins onto the desk.  "A room and scalding hot baths.  Now."  
  
    There was no way to avoid the sight of Septims spinning across the desk, and it was certainly better to look at than the borderline-murderous gleam in Regina's dark eyes, so the proprieter hurried to her feet and scrambled to wake the staff.  
  
    Feeling as though she were drowning in her own skin, Emma approached and set a hand on Regina's armored shoulder.  "You can be quite the bitch."  
  
    From within the shadows of her hood, Regina grinned.  "Thank you."  
  
  
  
    The Tiber Septim was the finest for a number of reasons.  
  
    Emma was convinced the main draw had to be the baths.  The water was pumped in from the Rumare and heated through a series of Dwemer-inspired mechanisms before it poured, on demand, into an ornate tub.  She indulged in a few full-bodied shivers as her frozen limbs slid into the steaming water, settling with a pleased sigh.  
  
    Regina's deep-throated moan actually made her blush.  
  
    The Monk cleared her throat.  "Y-You alright over there?"  
  
    A low partition divided the bathers from sight, though Emma wondered if she aught to take a look when Regina took her sweet time replying.  "Bliss..."  
  
    "Sweets and a hot bath.  You're an easy sell."  
  
    Rain pounded the roof but its fury was muted by the heavy stone construction, high enough that Regina had to squint to see into the shadows.  "And perfumes from Hammerfell, don't forget."  
  
    "Eh." Emma prodded at the pretty glass vials left on a small table beside her tub.  Fine, fluffy white towels and three different options for soap dominated the space.  She sniffed at each bar speculatively.  "Don't smell too sweet."  
  
    "You'll eat me all up, hm?"  
  
    "What?  Are you trying to drive me crazy?"  
  
    "Is it working?"  
  
    "N-No!"  
  
    "Hm...then, yes."  
  
    "You're impossible."  
  
    "And you're an Orc.  I would put Septims down that you've already selected the least perfumed bar of soap.  Something about not alerting the wildlife.  Shame it's all growing off your scalp."  
  
    She almost grabbed the bar loaded with bits of flowers, strong enough to have her smelling such a way for weeks, out of spite.  However she was true to her nature and stuck with the most bland selection, scrubbing at her hair with vigor.  "What they aught to have here is a shaving razor.  I could feel your leg hairs prickling me through your armor and mine."  
  
    Regina sputtered for a minute, red faced and floundering until she grasped a retort.  "Better my legs than your lips.  I could have sworn it was a _man_ breathing against my neck."  
  
    "Oh fuck you, princess!" Emma growled, throwing the most flowery bar of soap over the divider.  She laughed heartily when it struck true and hard, splashing Regina with its hearty impact.  There was an honest-to-Akatosh squeal before the fury came up.    
  
    "Emma Swan!!  I swear I will come over this wall and drop a Zombie in your bath if you continue this childish behavior!"  
  
    Emma blinked, debating.  "Really?  Can you hear them?"  
  
    "...hear what?"  
  
    "My knees.  Trembling like a newborn lamb." she mocked sweetly.  
  
    She yelped in alarm when the promised corpse appeared in her bath and promptly lost its footing, draping itself over her body.  
  
  
      
    Stroke one hundred or so and Emma still shivered head-to-toe at the memory of dead flesh pressed against herself.  "Fucking disgusting." she ground out, almost biting her tongue at a spine-cracking tremor.  
  
    Watching the Monk comb out her unruly locks, straightened by the water but already gaining back their wild spring, Regina contentedly tucked her armor away and induldged in the feeling of clean silk against her skin.  "A good thing they provided a straightrazor after all, just tucked under the towels.  How else would you have disposed of that menace?"  She slapped her hands on Emma's shoulders, smirking.  "I know!  Just as it happened, those girlish shrieks would alert management.  And a guard.  Over the sound of the rain."  
  
    "Then you recalled that thing and made me look a fool."  Emma spat, shrugging the hands off.  She gathered the wet mess of her hair and tied it into a loose braid.  
  
    "As though you need my help with that, dear."  
  
    She cast a glance over her shoulder, watching the Sorceress stretch out on the double bed.  "You _want_ a living pillow tonight?"  
  
    "No." came the scoff.  
  
    "Yeah, I believe you."  
  
    "You could sleep on the floor.  It would be like old times."  
  
    "Old times being a few weeks ago." she snorted.  "I know you now - not cramping my back just because you're having a fit.  I think I've grown immune to the snoring, too."  
  
    "I do not snore."  
  
    "My ears beg otherwise.  Sometimes I wake thinking a Troll has found the camp."  
  
    "Don't call yourself names, dear, it isn't nice."  
  
    "Yeah, yeah, princess perfect."  Emma rolled her eyes and blew out the last candle, tossing the room into lightning-kissed darkness.  She actually had to crawl a bit across the bed (score another allure point for the hotel) before ragdoll-flopping next to Regina, grinning at what she knew to be an eyeroll.  "We should pick up Mirabelle and send Bitter back to Leyawiin so he can heal up."  
  
    "Bitter?"  Regina smirked.  "I think he's rather sweet."  
  
    "Mirabelle's been cooped up here too long.  Gotta stretch her legs."  
  
    "You miss a horse."  
  
    "Yeah...?"  
  
    "A horse, which isn't meant to be a companion or ally."  
  
    "Shut up."  
  
    "I just want to be sure you hear yourself."  
  
    "Fine.  We sleeping in the last few hours of night left or you wanna stay up and chat?"  
  
    A sigh.  "You know, you're so insufferable, I'd rather be unconscious."  
  
    "Yeah, I'm kinda-really-a lot-tired too."  
  
    There was a bit of a shuffle and hesitation until the proper cues were received.  Emma lay on her back, eyeing the dark ceiling in thought while Regina settled her head between shoulder and breast, one arm slung over the Monk.  Emma drifted, falling into a hazy state not unlike one of her trances when she heard a soft sigh.  
  
    "Does this bother you?"  
  
    A blonde brow cocked though Emma allowed her eyes to close.  "Probably should.  I'm not big on touching.  Ma probably blabbed on about that, too."  
  
    "So...?"  
  
    "It's fine.  We know it'll happen anyway.  And I kinda like sleeping with you."  She almost choked on a half-breath.  "Er - in the same bed, with you and clothes.  On!  With clothes on!  And sleeping.  Sleeping in clothes.  In the same - j-just go to sleep already!!"  
  
    Regina smirked unseen.  
  
  
  
    Dawn was only a couple of hours off however the murky skies remained and so the Imperial City experienced a rather sluggish start.  When she stirred, Regina realized that the heavy curtains had been drawn, encouraging a false-night that allowed her to sleep past the faint shift in light indicating morning.  She sighed into her pillow, the slits of her eyes closing firmly.  "Emma..."  
  
    Her pillow being an actual pillow came as little surprise.  Both of them had restless dreams, perhaps Emma had repositioned.  However as her arm stretched out in a blind search, she sighed in disappointment.  The Monk was gone, the sheets cold.  Regina forced herself upright, raking her fingers through the tossed mess of her hair while summoning the will to open her eyes.  
  
    She groaned and dove back into the warm bedding.  
  
    Two hours later, Regina emerged - well rested and ready to hunt down Emma after 'borrowing' a set of clothing compliments of the hotel.  She felt a brief spike of fear that Emma abandoned her in the City but shoved it down.  The Monk would have left a note at the very least - Regina knew she'd managed to instill at least _that_ much guilt in her companion!  The main floor was surprisingly busy; perhaps breakfast drew those that couldn't afford the beds.  She smiled and made a brief pass around the room, cracking her knuckles and stretching her fingers.  On her second round, Regina quietly tucked away a good thirty gold and two small gems before settling into a chair.  
  
    The few Khajiit present flicked their ears and cocked their heads in an odd show of respect and acknowledgement of her fast fingers.  She affected to not notice but instead tucked into the plate of fruit, bread, and eggs handed to her, no gold or questions.  Apparently their late-night arrival meant they warrented caution and quick service!     
  
    Regina kept her ears open while she ate, catching snippets of conversation here and there but not anything of note.  She knicked a mouthful of wine from the goblet across from her knees.  Its owner didn't care to notice, too busy attempting to woo a blue-scaled Argonian woman in some terrible pantomime of Crassius Curio's...well, 'work' would be a polite way to put it.  
  
    Not that she'd ever seen the play...or read the book.  Nope.  No one ever read it aloud to her, tears running from their eyes while attempting to supress their mirth.  Absolutely not.  Not so much as a page.  Mother would have killed her on the spot.  
  
    She vacated the inn before she embarrassed herself laughing.  
  
    Fog had rolled over the city while a faint, misting rain kept the sun from burning it off.  Regina got a few odd looks from those closet as she jogged through the city, grinning like a fool and using her lack of breath to surpress the urge to giggle.  She ran into one person and tripped over a beggar, though not onto her face.  A few coins put him back in good spirits and Regina on her way.  She didn't bother with the weapon or armor shops, having learned her lesson on their last trip, and didn't allow herself to get distracted by thoughts of the Arcane Sanctum.  No, Regina moved East and made a lap around the arena before she felt sufficiently calm enough to approach.  The blonde Bosmer (Fuzzy, was he?  Emma had a name for everyone!) nodded at her approach and didn't try to stop her as she swung left instead of right.  
  
    Her first breath in the Bloodworks was rich with the scent of iron, heady enough to make her think twice about a second go.  Unfortunately, jogging left her with a pressing need for air so a second gulp was taken in, though it wasn't as strong.  How had she ignored the smell the last time?  
  
    Regina set her jaw and forced past the aroma, though the solid thud of her boots on the steps was drowned out by the screams and impacts of flesh and metal.  She stopped on the last step, blinking in a bored way as a body flew past her, by spare inches, and slammed into the grass-padded wall.  In a careful, but still effectively bored way, Regina bent her head forward to glance to her left, spying a rather large woman in a yellow jerkin looking mightily pleased with herself.    
  
    Both startled as the tossed-body screamed bloody murder, Regina jerking her head back.  
  
    Perhaps unfortunately for the throw-ee, Regina had been noticed and the young man ran smack into Emma's flat palm, knocking himself out cold as the Monk casually took one of Regina's hands and escorted her down the the last step.  "Sleep well, princess?" she smiled.  
  
    Emma's pale skin was flush and sleek with sweat but her eyes were bright and alive and Regina could feel them all over.  She blushed, though the lighting concealed it.  "I did.  Rather rude of you to leave without telling me."  
  
    "Eh, you were sleeping sound.  No point when I was just leaving to come down here to sweat and bleed."  
  
    "Speaking of..."  
  
    "Ah-ah, princess." Emma stopped and a Dunmer archer in blue took his shot, the arrow thudding home dead-center in a painted hay target.  "No plans to fight this time - just getting a couple rounds in with the big guy."  
  
    "Big guy?"  
  
    Emma smirked and continued their walk, bringing Regina in sight of a massive Orc she'd noticed last time, but only now did she see the odd tone of his skin and the strange shape of his face.  "The Grey Prince, princess.  Reigning Champion.  Agronak, this is Regina."  
  
    "Nobility as well, to hear it told." he grinned in the unsettling way Orcs do and took Regina's hand, bowing his head.  "A pleasure.  This Champion-in-Training speaks highly of you."  
  
    Emma cast him an exasperated glare.  "Really?"  
  
    "Noble I am not, except to put up with Emma."  
  
    The blonde threw up her hands.  "I'll be waiting when you two are done playing bash-Emma!"  
  
    "It was quite the performance when last I saw you." Agronak chuckled.  "Swan is strong and stubborn and not one to lightly accept what you did from anyone."  
  
    "I have my ways."  
  
    Agronak's eyes widened but before Regina could correct him, someone grabbed the nape of her curiass and yanked her back.  "What the hell is this?  We don't babysit fans down here, get out!"  
  
    The Prince raised a hand.  "Hold on there, Owyn.  She's--"  
  
    "With me."  Emma stalked up.  "Drop her or I'm droppin' you, Owyn."  
  
    He snorted.  "Gettin' awfully cocky, Swan.  Why don't you get out there and use some of that instead of cowering in the Bloodworks?"  
  
    She slapped a hand on Agronak's back.  "I'm here to warm up the Prince.  I'm not here long enough to start fighting."  
  
    "Yeah, you got a girlfriend now but you'd best drop her if you wanna keep your taste for blood, kid."  
  
    "Don't threaten me.  You know I'm the best damn shot you have at seeing Blue puke up a Champion some time this decade!"  
  
    "Plenty of hopefuls are already lined up to watch you fall."  
  
    " _Enough_!"  
  
    All fighting stopped at Agronak's roar.  His nostrils flared as he glared between the fueding pair.  "I'm plenty warm now.  Line up the Minotaur - I'll give them a show they can't forget."  
  
    He stormed off to gather his armor and Owyn scoffed.  "He likes you.  Can't figure out why."  
  
    Regina's armored elbow sunk deep into his gut and Owyn wheezed, doubled over, then fell over.  The Sorceress shook out her arm and cocked a brow.  "What?"  
  
    Emma chuckled.  "Must be the company I keep, Owyn."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still alive and well! Or, well-ish? My computer had some issues and I tried a few unsuccessful things. Short of getting a new computer. So, factory reset and it is alive once again! Now I'm just missing all my digital notes because they didn't translate for some reason when I loaded all my docs onto portable storage before the reset...sad. :/
> 
> I can't remember exactly what I had them set up to do so this is a little more random than usual. I was also getting my behind handed to me in my Emma game so I've started her over and I'm building her perks rather than powerleveling. Lots and lots and lots of wolves and rats and imps. :P Hopefully my Oblivion guide will not lead me astray.


	14. Intrusion

    Horses were apparently very slippery in the hands of an Orc.  
  
    Or perhaps it was just the Chestnut Handy Stables.  
  
    "Give me my damn gold back."  
  
    "I'm counting it towards boarding that tempermental beast you brought here first.  Nasty thing snaps at everyone!  What'd you call her?  Mirror Bell?"  
  
    "Mirabelle.  She's gentle as a lamb." Emma ground out.  "You..." she cleared her throat and mockingly crooked two fingers, "lost one of our Paints.  That we brought two bloody days ago."  
  
    Snak gra-Bura folded her arms over her chest.  "Ain't my fault you brought a jumpy horse.  Probably hopped the fence at the first crack of lightning."  
  
    "Yeah, funny how that happens." she snorted.  "Give me my gold or I'm gonna beat it out of your flat face."  
  
    Fortunately during the pissing-match, only Emma saw Regina toe off her boots and enter the proprietor's home.  And only Emma saw her emerge, a satisfied smirk on her face as she quietly snugged her boots back on.  Emma dodged the pithy swing aimed for her head, grabbing the Orc and spinning her around to shove her towards the building.  There shouldn't have been so much satisfaction in the sound of her impact but Emma's smirk mirrored Regina's.  To top it off, she grabbed the saddle Regina had been eyeing earlier and pushed it into the Sorceress' hands.  "We'll just be off, then!  You aught to lay off the horse, though - too fatty.  Makes you slow and stupid."  
  
    They stopped in Weye so Regina could properly fit the saddle, pleased that her critical eye had not disappointed.  "It's almost perfect."  
  
    "So how much did you get?"  
  
    "Does it matter?  I'm only supposed to be stealing off of you, remember?"  
  
    "Yeah but technically you're stealing my gold back from her, probably plus interest, so...it's...uh...kinda like stealing from me?"  
  
    "By some stretch of logic, I'm sure."  
  
    "Aw, what'd ya get?"  
  
    "By weight?  Maybe two-hundred Septims.  Probably less."  
  
    "Nice take." Emma grinned, scratching Mirabelle's neck.  "Ya missed us, huh?"  
  
    Regina hid her snickering by seeing to the girth.  "You'll spoil her."  
  
    "She had to put up with that ratty old nag and a greenskin.  That deserves a few days of pampering."  
  
    She checked the blanket and pressed her fingers into and around the white tufts where the sore had healed over, thanks mostly to her initial touch.  'Bitter', Mara help her she was already using Emma's name for him, didn't so much as blink in discomfort.  "Excellent.  We'll ride a short ways and see how you're doing, hm?"  
  
    "Gonna go North and see a baby Emperor."  Emma pulled herself into the saddle and slapped Mirabelle's shoulders.  "You remember the way."  
  
    "Careful, Swan." Regina smirked.  She adjusted her rucksack and settled herself on Bitter's back, pleased that he continued his placid behavior.  "I might think you're starting to like riding a horse."  
  
    "Never!" she grinned.  
  
    "Of course.  Do we close any Gates we come across on this leg of the road?"  
  
    Emma picked at the scales of her Elven armor, leaving the reigns draped over the saddlehorn in her distraction.  "Hrm...can they get through to here?"  
  
    'They' needed no explaination.  "I'm sure Mother can.  As long as she is permitted, she is able to cross realms like us.  She isn't a Daedra."  
  
    "And her golden pet?"  
  
    "I told you he's not a pet, Emma."  
  
    "He takes orders like one."  
  
    "Believe me when I say, he is getting something out of this.  He never does anything that doesn't benefit himself."  
  
    "Your Ma knows that?"  
  
    A nod.  
  
    "And she still working with him?"  
  
    Regina sighed.  "They share a...complicated history."  
  
    As the silence stretched, Regina could all but hear the gears in Emma's brain cranking out possibilities.  She wasn't disappointed.  
  
    "You're not like...their secret love-child or anything, are you?"  
  
    Regina could only smile and shake her head.  "No, though the idea of it being secret means even I wouldn't know."  
  
    "Oh.  Right."  
  
    She gave it a moment.  "Emma, get that image out of your head now and breathe, you're starting to turn colors."  
  
    "Trying."  
  
    "Are you ready to try loping?"  
  
    "Huh?" she blinked, her train of thought successfuly broken.  
  
    "A lope or canter.  Faster than a trot."  
  
    Trotting made her back hurt.  Regina insisted Emma was too rigid and bouncy in the saddle (whatever the hell that meant!) but the Monk would be willing to do anything but trot.  "Faster?" she cleared her throat.  
  
    "You're not afraid of a little wind in your hair, are you Swan?"  
  
    "Tch!  I worry more that you'll pitch a fit about ruining your style, highness."  
  
    Regina rain a set of fingers through her mussed locks.  They hadn't been anywhere near 'styled' in a great while and in her own way, she was glad of the untamed mess.  "The only fit I'll be having is on my side, gasping in laughter and pain when you fall.  Again."  
  
    "Yeah, right."  Emma made a face.  "After you, princess."  
  
    With her chin lilted upwards in whole confidence, Regina urge Bitter forward.   He complied with such ease that the Sorceress almost glossed over his first attempt to balk at the urging to move even faster.  The sharp hop made her draw him to a stop, scratching at his neck furtitively.  "Hm.  Emma.  Come up here."  
  
    The blonde did so without a single incident or curse, preening as Mirabelle came to a gentle stop next to Bitter.  "See that?"  
  
    "Amazing that she obeys you so easily considering I was her rider, for the most part."  
  
    "She likes me."  
  
    Regina's lips twitched but she nodded at the road ahead rather than comment.  "I checked his hooves before you started arguing with the Orc...he's in good health if a little thin.  Perhaps some competition will encourage him where commands do not."  
  
    Emma frowned but nudged Mirabelle into a gentle walk, her expression easing as Bitter kept pace without command.  "So...how's a princess like you know so much about horses?  I can't see your Ma encouraging lessons."  
  
    "No, she didn't."  
  
    Emma waited but nothing came of her patience.  She recounted each of Regina's instructions and managed to build up to a trot without problem, hoping the change would jar Regina's jaw loose.  Bitter held pace once more and the Monk imagined Mirabelle glanced back at her as if to ensure there was an adult on her back and not a simple child.  Emma offered her trademark scowl and that seemed to be the key.  
  
    "You're bouncing again."  
  
    "I'm not a beached slaughterfish, Regina." she snorted.  "What do I need to do for this 'loping-canter-whatever' thing?"  
  
    "There are very few wild horses in Skyrim."  
  
    Emma felt her spine crack - pleasantly, to her relief.  "Okaaaay...?"  
  
    "They're so much bigger and hardier.  They can bear their own armor while carrying a fully-armored Orc and his full compliment of weapons for days with little rest."  A smile.  "In Skyrim, a horse is life and wealth and power and we...we had two stables full.  Mother was insistent that only the strongest, most aggressive be bred.  Gods, they were monstrous and wild...."  
  
    "And here you want to cross-breed." she tried for levity.  
  
    Regina only blinked.  "Ordinary stableboys couldn't handle them - they were crushed or maimed.  Actual warriors became caretakers of the beasts.  Until...one foolish stablehand came by and asked for work to feed his family.  Such a young, stupid boy.  I think Mother gave him the work in full confidence he would be dead in the hour."  
  
    "But he wasn't." Emma hazarded, ignoring the sickly gnawing in her gut.  Something of breakfast must have not agreed with her.  
  
    "No."    
  
    Regina smiled, brilliant and happy but so, so sad as she stared into the distance.  Emma tensed, repulsed by the twist of her own innards at the sight of pure love.  
  
    "No, Daniel asked the warriors to kindly leave the horses to him.  They all laughed but didn't go far, placing their bets loudly on which horse would kill him.  The stables trembled under the stomp of so many angry hooves and for a time, the noise only grew in volume and ferocity."  A smirk.  "Even the warriors debated the merits of entering the stables to retrieve Daniel's body."  
  
    "So what happened?" she ground out, cold as the North winds and irritated with herself for being irritated at all.  
  
    Another smile, this one softer.  "The thunder grew quiet and the angry bellows were replaced with soft breaths.  The warriors picked a champion from among them to see Daniel's fate.  He pushed open the barred doors and stood in wonder.  Daniel lived.  He lived and had not one mark upon him.  From there, Daniel was the only one who could handle any of the beasts - they would allow no other hands upon them in their home."  
  
    "Must've kept him busy."  
  
    "Quite."  She ducked her head, momentarily shy.  "I went to see the truth of the story and Daniel smiled and welcomed me.  He took me to each horse and introduced me.  Not one balked...from then I couldn't possibly have stopped visiting the stables at any free hour."  
  
    "And he was your tutor."  
  
    Regina nodded, coming out of the past with a soft smile.  "Emma?"  
  
    A grunt.  
  
    "We're loping."  
  
    "Huh?"  
  
    "You're not bouncing."  
  
    "Oh..." Emma glanced around, smiling a little.  "Hey, yeah!"  
  
    A pause.  "...Emma?"  
  
    "This is so much better than a trot."  
  
    Regina shook her head and carefully moved closer, setting a hand on the Monk's knee in a somewhat stretched gesture.  Green eyes zeroed in on the contact.  "I...Daniel..."  
  
    "He's gonna help you build that steading, I guess." she offered with forced cheer.  
  
    The Sorceress smiled ruefully, changing her grip to Emma's hand, her fingers replacing the reigns.  "Daniel and I...we were only ever friends.  We shared a great love of horses.  He often spoke of his wife and their two sons."  
  
    "Oh."  Fuck all those goddamn knots for leaving her gut to tie up her tongue!  "Um..."  
  
    "He died, Emma." she announced, matter of fact and flat-toned.  "I used to think it was natural.  One of the horses lost it, went crazy.  It could happen with any horse.  Mother even had the poor animal put down.  Though, after the news of my father's fate..."  
  
    The Monk's hand, a weapon that could crush bone and channel untold destruction, betrayed her first instinct and turned over rather than pulled away.  Even Regina seemed surprised and Emma felt her face heating up; all the worse as the horses slowed to a walk, as though sensing the change in mood.  "I, uh...I know I said so before but, I'm sorry.  Y'know?  About your Da."  She swallowed something sour, though her expression remained steady.  "And, uh...Daniel."  
  
    "Thank you." she smiled, squeezing Emma's hand.  
  
    It took a few deep breaths but Emma managed a smile all her own, squeezed back (just once), and jerked her chin towards the road.  "C'mon.  Let's see if we can find out what they want."  
  
      
  
      
  
    Emma turned an interesting series of colors.  
  
    Regina was therefore quick to pick up the reply.  "We were just at the Imperial City, you see.  Your man, Baurus, was nowhere to be found."  
  
    "He is staying in a smaller inn to avoid suspicion." Jauffre informed them, sipping his wine with the casual aires of someone trained in political warfare.  
  
    "Has he found anything?  I'm sure he is busy in the city and not simply enjoying a vacation." she retorted.  
  
    Jauffre smiled calmly.  "Of course.  Barus is checking up on leads to see where the Amulet may have been taken or to what purpose.  It is absolutely essential we have the amulet back.  Without it, Martin is no more an Emperor than you or I."  More wine.  "Our last message received implied that Barus seems to have found a strong connection at last and wishes to investigate.  He is not confident in doing so alone."  
  
    Emma burst into laughter at that.  Even Jauffre's calm facade was shaken by the outburst.  "So let me get this straight, **Prior**."  There was not a drop of respect in the title.  "You have a fortress chock full of highly trained and dedicated soldiers and all this time you've been sitting on your ass, waiting for two civilian wildcards to pop back in for tea?"  
  
    "I cannot spare bodies to such a dangerous mission at this time."  
  
    "Oh, hear that, Regina?  We're expendable."  
  
    "You're a fool!" Jauffre growled.  "How I always expect more from your kind, I don't know."  
  
    "My kind." Emma chuckled and sighed.  "My _kind_ are what keep you **Brothers of the Nine** up on your damned high horses.  You pray and preach and heal for gold while we scrape a living from the dirt and heal for little more than that relieved sigh when the pain finally stops.  You cast us in shadows and suspicion even as you use our strong backs to climb your ivory towers!  We are each an army and you quake behind your weapons and the gods when we approach."  
  
    "You are monsters." he challenged, actually rising out of his seat to lean on the table much as Emma had.  "Beasts hungry for the fight and the taste of blood.  How many innocents die in your pursuits of strength and skill?  While we call upon the Aedra to aid us, you draw greedily of the spiritual wellsprings of Tamriel, having no such source in your own flesh!"  
  
    Regina almost displaced Emma when she joined the contest.  "Both of you shut up!"  They didn't so much as glance at her.  "Either settle this or agree to disagree!"  
  
    Emma snorted.  "The horses need rest for at least one night.  Prior, I would be all too glad to test your boasts."  
  
    "Why would I lower myself to such a brutal display?"  
  
    Regina smiled at that, picking up the ball with ease.  "Your soldiers are restless and edgy.  A display of non-lethal force should help them relax, don't you think?"  
  
    Jauffre grunted at left the table only to have Martin take his place.  "I hope you know what you are doing, my friends.  The Blades are widely respected for more than just their weapon skills."  
  
    Emma turned, smirking as Regina fell into step beside her.  "You sounded so sure of yourself."  
  
    "Mother would hold such competitions.  It weeded out the weak and rewarded the vicious."  
  
    "I'm guessing 'weeding' wasn't a non-lethal process."  
  
    "You would be correct."  
  
   
     Jauffre was waiting as they left the temple.  Clearly many Blades had never seen a Monk in action, for they snorted and bet among themselves, full of confidence.  Those that had gave Emma a small nod and held their breaths, waiting.  The Monk stepped out of her armor, baring little more than worn leather pants and a linen shirt to the evening.  A titter of conversation washed through their audience at the sight.  Jauffre had chosen to don the armor of a blade, right down to the helmet and shield.  He tapped the flade of his sword to the armored helm.  "A fight until we cannot fight anymore.  Agreed?"  
  
    Emma shrugged.  "Whatever you want, Prior."  
  
    She was stalled and pulled back awkwardly before her toes touched the grass-marked arena.  "Regina, wha--"  
  
    "For luck." she whispered, placing a firm kiss to Emma's lips.  
  
    The Monk was still as the brief contact stopped.  Was Regina blushing?  Torchlight made it hard to tell.    
  
    Oh gods, was _she_ blushing?!  It certainly felt like her skin was several shades more pink!  Emma's thoughts jumped around tracks until landing on her opponent.  One man she could face; one man to defeat.  All the rest could be resolved later.  
  
    .  
  
    'Later' came to be hours later, when Emma's clothes were covered in blood from over a dozen tiny cuts and Jauffre's armor was severely dented or completely broken.  Their fight had started with a great deal of passion and zeal but as the stars came out above them and Masser tracked a slow path overhead, grudging respect both calmed the passion and upped the chatter.  An exhausted laugh occasionally broke through and the excited clamor of Blades came from attempts to mimic rather than mock.  Their audience ebbed and swelled, many vanishing for food and drink only to return and see who was closest to falling first.  
  
    Regina abandoned the fight after the evening meal, when she could be confident no one was going to be irrevocably injured.  She emptied her knapsack and treated the leather before packing everything back into it.  Next was armor and since she cleaned her armor, she imagined she aught as well do Emma's.  When the gilded Elven metals gleamed in the firelight, their owner was still not present.  Regina drummed her fingers nervously for several minutes.  She produced a book but couldn't focus on the words.  Emma's rucksack gave her a few moments distraction as she reorganized its contents but Regina was still left with little else to do.  
  
    She wasn't going to trade her Orcish curiass for any of the Blades' equipment but she eyed the rest of the armor with curiosity.  It wouldn't match.  The Akaviri styling with Orcish...roughshod quality?  She frowned - perhaps in the morning she would have a clearer decision.  
  
    That decided, she just needed to have one last drink to settle her nerves and Regina imagined she'd be ready for sleep.  
  
    She almost ran into Emma halfway through the main hall.  "Emma!"  
  
    Having just ushered Jauffre off, Emma was smiling, though it faded a bit as she looked over the Sorceress.  "Regina."  
  
    "You're bleeding..."  
  
    "Nah, m'fine."  
  
    "Sit down."  
  
    The tone brooked no argument and Emma dropped onto a bench before she could think better.  Regina summoned up healing magics and frowned as she watched them work.  "Do you feel better now?"  
  
    "Much less tense." she nodded.  
  
    "Good."  
  
    "OW!"  
  
    Regina huffed and clasped her hands around Emma's head.  "You're worse than a child.  Hold still."  
  
    "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you electrocute all the kids you think are being stupid."  
  
    "Please.  That was barely a static shock."  
  
    "Yeah right."  
  
    "You'll need new clothes.  He sliced these up like meat."  
  
    "Good thing we're headed back towards the city."  
  
    Regina scoffed.  
  
    "Then I can get a round in at the arena before we see the Blade."  She slapped Regina's right hand away in time that the 'tiny' shock spell slammed harmlessly into stone and wood.  
  
    Disgruntled, Regina none the less resumed her work, pushing healing magics into Emma's bloodstream.  "I don't like you doing that."  
  
    "I think I got that message."  
  
    "It's selfish."  
  
    "It's gold."  
  
    "It's a deathwish."  
  
    "Not gonna die."  
  
    "That's what they all think."  
  
    "I _know_ I'm not gonna die."  
  
    "Idiot."  
  
    Emma's hands snapped up and dragged Regina down where she could kiss her - no more or less as she had been before the fight.  It felt...nice.  The Sorceress was stuck between rigid and liquid, enough that Emma could safely say, if pressed to the wall by an army, that she enjoyed it.  She released Regina and took to her feet for a good stretch.  "Your good luck charm worked.  'Night."  
  
    Regina didn't make it to bed that evening.  
  
  
  
  
      
    Perhaps it was the distinct lack of snoring, but Emma was up early for reasons she couldn't grasp.  Lying still and pretending to be dead didn't edge her any closer to the oblivion of sleep so she rolled to her feet and dressed.  Many Blades were resting, some partially armored and some at-ease enough to sleep in plain clothes.  Regina's bedroll was empty, cold, and undisturbed.  
  
    A light snow had fallen overnight, the clouds rolling in after Jauffre and Emma declared a draw and retired the issue.  A few were sweeping the stones clear, moving in and out of a stubborn low fog.  They greeted her in passing and Emma offered quiet nods in return.  She imagined she spied Martin near the stables but chose to keep moving.  The exterior wall of the temple-fortress had a strange rise on either edge until meeting over the gate.  Emma paused under the cover of an open-walled guardhouse and looked down at Tamriel below.  
  
    There was little to see, given the fog rolling off the Jerall peaks, however the very tip-top points of the Chapel of Talos peeked out of the pale gloom.  In the far distance, if she squinted, the White-Gold Tower was a little visible.  Perhaps they were having rain.  Again.  
  
    She nudged an old stool over and took a seat, catching her feet in the wrungs while slowing her breath and closing her eyes.  Her mind took her back through the night's fight, reliving it in a meditative, slower state as she watched Jauffre's ankles twist before a lunge or the side he favored while blocking.  The Temple faded away until Emma merged realities - brought the fight back to her village, where everyone was out to watch.  If she ever had a doubt it was a vision, it was dismissed for Ruby had coaxed Belle out of her self-imprisonment and into the moonlight.  The girl held her human form in wonderment, watching her hands as if waiting for claws to spring forth.  
  
    Here, Emma could counter faster.  Here, she had already learned the lessons and was reviewing to build counter attacks, to ignore feigns and lunge at weak points.  Her injuries were fewer, her body never tired, and she grasped victory rather than a draw, leaving the arena with her chin high.  
  
    It was snagged by a strong but thin hand, wrenched to the side as Regina scolded her.  Though her voice was harsh, her lightest caress soothed away the pain, stopped the bleeding.  Emma had come to accept the sight of Regina in her visions.  The Sorceress was now a part of her reverie as a healer and friend.  When the last of her three wounds were healed, Emma grinned, not at all sorry, and kissed her.  
  
    Real-time-Emma grunted.  This was new.  
  
    Regina wasn't at all as shocked or tense as the night before.  This Regina returned the kiss in full confidence and joy and as though Emma had been away for too long and they best find a reasonably private spot **now**.  No entrapment was required for her to admit she enjoyed it.  As sweet as it was, though, something was wrong.  Gooseflesh erupted along every inch of Emma's skin and she withdrew, unaccountably terrified.    
  
    In Regina's place stood Cora, eyes of onyx and skin black and burnt as the foreign soils of Oblivion.  She smiled and Emma's friends and family began to scream and writhe.  Daedric spikes and the hateful fire-towers ripped up through the green, green earth.  All became sickly and sour and when Emma turned, she lost all breath.  
  
    The Golden Pet himself, Rumpel, held a changed Ruby by the throat.  White jaws snapped and snarled but the werewolf could not reach him, couldn't even touch the ground no matter how she flailed.  Gold extended a hand to Belle and the quiet beauty writhed in agony, moving in and out of her wolf-form as a line of black travelled from her to Gold's hand.  It focused into a ball over his palm, growing as less and less of the Wolf remained with Belle.  When she was at last human and still but for whimpers and mewls, Gold smiled.  He eyed the Wolf in-hand and pressed the aggitated ball of black straight into Ruby's chest.    
  
    Even from a distance, Emma could see it, no matter how fast she ran, her paradise was destroyed.  All intellect left Ruby's eyes.  There was no quiet glint of humor - just endless black.  Gold released her and the feral Ruby immediately fell upon Belle's limp form, caring for nothing but blood and the kill.    
  
    "Emma..."  
  
    The Monk vomited at the sight of Ruby's red muzzle.  
  
    "Emma..."  
  
    She turned at the faint voice and was almost not-surprised to see Regina there, floating by magic.  Choking by magic.  "Leave us alone." Emma breathed, wiping at her lips.  
  
    "Or what?" Cora chuckled.  "You'll find me?  Watch carefully, Monk.  I may start shaking."  
  
    "Leave her alone."  
  
    "She is my daughter, foul and coarse a thing as she is.  I'll do as I please."  
  
    "You're no mother."  Emma shook her head.  Why did everything seem fuzzy?  
  
    "Perhaps I should take advice from your mother, girl.  You love her so much, she must have done a superior job."  
  
    Regina squeaked as the grip around her throat increased.  Bruises were forming.  
  
    "I have the armies of a Daedric Prince at my command, churl.  What do you have?"  
  
    The brunette was slammed into the earth and Emma heard bones break.  Her eyes welled in foreign empathy.  "Stop!  You'll kill her!"  
  
    "I should have killed her ages ago.  Honestly, I can't imagine she has been a fun travelling companion.  All that simpering, whining, need, need, _need_."  
  
    Another wet, wet impact and Regina wasn't making any more sounds.  Emma's heart almost clawed its way out of her chest.  She tried to move but her legs couldn't obey.  The grass was long gone, swallowed by the hungry black grounds of Oblivion, as her legs were steadily being consumed.  Flutters of panic and terror and memories of their first forays into the Gates flooded her mind and she fought against the pull, desperate and no longer sure if her mediations were the safe-havens she had built.    
  
    "Emma...."  
  
    Another impact.  Emma dug at the ground with her fingers but it was unyeilding.  She pressed her hands to it, anything to haul herself free.  
  
    Cora laughed.  "Oh, do keep trying.  I love to see ants scurry.  You think you're going to survive.  You think this waste of breath is going to survive....that you'll save her somehow."  Another pathetic mewl, another display of Cora's power.  "You will learn, churl.  She will come home, where she belongs, and she will forget all about you.  You will become what you have always been.  Nothing."  
  
    "EMMA!"  
  
    Feeling the air around her and the sweet, sweet freedom it brought, Emma wheeled her arms and legs, scrambling away from the horrors and forgetting entirely about the rather aggressive drop behind her.  She didn't even have time to yelp before her body began plummeting for the stone steps, then stopped short.  Emma did flail for a moment, sure of her impending death before she saw that she was moving up.  "Regina!"  
  
    "Of course it's me, idiot." she sighed in irritation, deliberately dropping the Monk on her ass.  "You have to stop meditating near prec-"  
  
    "You're alive!" Emma interrupted, scrambling up to her and pressing cold fingers around Regina's face, checking for any breaks.  
      
    "Why wouldn't I - stop that!" she batted the seeking fingers away.  "What is wrong with y-mph?!"  
  
    Emma stalled her with a firm, proper kiss that had even the hardened Blades leaving the scene as quietly as possible.  It was far from the passion of her vision-based Regina but the brunette did respond after a moment's surprise - which was, of course, Emma's cue to realize just what the hell she was doing.  An audible smack of lips marked her retreat, wide green eyes drinking in the hooded-carmel gaze before her.  "Oh...s-sorry."  
  
    "Yeah..." Regina breathed, chasing down Emma's lips once more.  
  
  


  
  
  
    They didn't talk about it.    
  
    Having returned to the grand old Imperial City, they had yet to speak two words that might even risk it.    
  
    On the road, Regina had still curled up to Emma and Emma still didn't reject her but there was a new, strange layer to it.  They stared at one another from the corners of their eyes and took special interest in honing individual skills.  Emma didn't risk another meditation so close to what had frightened her but spent her time perfecting jabs and heel-drops.  Regina's rucksack was heavy with miscelleneous potions and powders and she could spend an easy two hours off in the wilds, carefully plucking ingredients from the base of trees.  
  
    However the city offered no such distractions.  Emma could not practice without terrifying the locals and Regina, once she sold the variety of her creations, had very few pickings to aid her alchemical tinkerings.  After visiting the market, they found themselves at something of an idle impasse.  Each other's quiet fidgetings steadily gnawed upon nerves until Regina shouldered her rucksack and jabbed her chin towards the South.  "I'm going to see if there are any enchantments that may help us."  
  
    "Okay."  A roll of strong shoulders.  "We can see Baurus after that.  I'm...uh...going to see what's happening at the Arena.  While you're busy."  
  
    "You're going to compete."  
  
    Emma didn't bother to deny it.  She shouldered her own bag and set out walking.  
  
    Regina followed.  By necessity.  The City's layout was a perfect circle so right then, the shortest way to the Arcane University would be through the Arena district.  She worked on being angry, knowing it was futile but feeling eventually it might actually sink into Emma's skull.  The tall gates separating each district yawned before them, bringing the sound of Arena 'wannabes' as they practiced on one another.  
  
    As they stepped into Emma's world, the Monk's shoulders relaxed, letting her head bob subtly as she kept track of everything around her.  She nodded to those who knew her but kept steady pace towards the Arena itself.  'Fuzzy' smiled and ducked his head out of respect, earning the same from Emma.  "Good to see you back again.  Betting?" he glanced to Regina.  
  
    Emma snorted.  "Competing."  
  
    "Ah, well good luck in any case!"  
  
    The blonde turned for the Bloodworks but paused at the scrape of armor over her knuckles.  She turned only to see Regina walking off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I wrote the epilogue to this baby last week and I don't even know how the game ends.
> 
> You can't actually spar with the Blades, let alone Jauffre, which is a shame. Random bouncing Slaughterfish are my favorite. Made the mistake of watching a little Tarow and tormented myself with Seeing Red. Nope, not distracted by writing any W/T randomness on the side, why do you ask? >.>;
> 
> The ladies are two and two for kisses, who initiates the next one, hm? :)


	15. Scars

    Emma ducked.  She parried and rolled while her slick, sweaty skin made it nigh impossible to get a grip on her.  Most certainly, she was irritating her Argonian competition.    
  
    However that had more to do with her lack of presence in the life-or-death fight.  Her mind was retreated while her body did what it knew best, though running on autopilot made for a rather dull show.  The crowd's excited roars were muted and Emma's breathing slowed, drawing slower and deeper.  She licked her lips and before she could catch it, her body stopped dead.  
  
    Fortunately, her competitor was happy to smash his spiked fist into her face, opening up angry lacerations in her left cheek and ripping her back from the edge of a meditative state.    
  
    " _Shit_!" she howled, ire growing as the crowd laughed and jeered, all too eager to see either of them bleed.    
  
    The Argonian chuckled and flipped his blade upright.  "Welcome back.  Blood suits you."  
  
    Emma scoffed and spat a bloody gob at his feet.  "You should try it."  
  
    He lunged.  
  
      
      
      
  
    "You'll burn the University down, girl.  Relax."  
  
    Regina shrugged Renald's hand off her shoulder, sighing tersely.  Her arms were shaking from the strain of so much magic being wielded at once.  "I'm fine."  
  
    "Of course.  Try switching schools.  Conjuration, perhaps."  
  
    The suggestion held merit and threat.  Regina was hitting the targets hard and in spite of their enchanted protection, a spell could slide off and hurt someone if she lost focus.  She ducked her head in a showing of embarrassment.  "Perhaps."  
  
    To be spiteful, however, she summoned a Flame Atronach.  Renald glowered but Regina gave the creature no commands, letting it twirl idly until the proctor relented and went to badger other students.  The Atronach was dismissed and Regina took a seat, rubbing at her temples - too much magic in too short a time.  What else was she to do, though?  Without practicing magic, or studying it, she was merely loitering in the University.  Being idle allowed her to think and thinking took her back to the cold morning when Emma was ghostly white, sweating, and convulsing.  
  
    Regina had learned that she had no idea how to help Emma.  
  
    Her recourse had been to shout and shake the Monk until Emma snapped out of whatever had her.  Then there was the fall and rescue and...and...  
  
    She sighed and closed her eyes.  A moment passed in which a visit to the Arena seemed like a good idea.  If Emma had already competed and gotten the knots out of her back, they could move on in their growing quest.  However the mere thought of seeing Emma in the Arena's field, pitted against whatever insane odds fed the crowd's bloodlust, made Regina's pulse rise so fast she felt dizzy.  
  
    The burbles of anger she'd managed to summon on the short walk to the Arena fizzled and died at the thought of Emma's broken corpse - someone standing over her body with a victorious grin while the crowd pledged loyalty through screams.  Regina couldn't handle that, she knew she couldn't.    
  
    "You done?"  
  
    Earthen eyes snapped open, narrowing at the green-robed Redguard.  She had refused to wear the itchy things, sticking to her thick skins in spite of the stares and mocking.  Regina gave him a nod and collected her things to leave.  If she took the long way around the city, she wouldn't have to hear a peep of crowd or boasting.    
  
  
  
  
    Victory.

  
    The crowd was insane - out of their mind with bloodthirst as the two took their time beating each other to death.  Or at least, to his death.  Deep green scales cut with yellow lines marked her Argonian match but now all was red, much like Emma herself.  Whatever his reasons for fighting, he took distinct pleasure in toying with Emma, cat and mouse, touch and go.  He even cast his shield aside in brazen challenge when Emma knocked the sword from his grasp.   
  
    From there it had been a show unlike any Emma had given.  She had fought others that were as bare-knuckled as she but they were not predators.  The Argonian revelled in Emma's lack of focus, forcing her to swing hard only to wind around and shove her off balance or kick her legs out.  
  
    She grimaced at the feeling of a molar wiggling.  
  
    He took such joy, in fact, that he didn't notice how Emma was letting her body slack, drawing all her weight down, down, down until she was very nearly hunched.  The Troll required little of her mind - it was almost completely body and momentum.  Emma proceeded to beat the bewildered fighter to death with wild swings and powerful stomps.  
  
    It wasn't without its pitfalls.  Her back was greatly exposed and her knees were suffering from the strain.  And her head...oh her head!  
  
    Emma slumped over the Basin, breathing shallow as her ribs were knit back together by healing magicks.  On her hands, Emma's dislocated fingers popped back into place while the generous magicks slid down her legs.  Her knees regained their strength when the last of her ribs ceased to ache.  One full breath was sweeter than any confection and Emma straightened in relief.  "M'fine..." she waved Owyn off.  
  
    He shook his head.  "That it for today?"  
  
    "Call me what you want but I think my ass is gonna be hurting through next week."  
  
    A chuckle.  "Alright.  Come get your gold after you're cleaned up."  
  
    Legs holding steady, Emma tossed the abused raiment into a pile of bloody 'fix-or-burn' raiments and began to pull her clothes on.  Nothing twinged, thankfully, but she was given pause by the zealous battle-cry of a young Pit Dog bellowing up the ramp to his destiny.  She shook her head.  "Tell me I was never that stupid."   
  
    "You really want an answer?"   
  
    "Stuff it, Owyn."  
  
    "I don't see that pretty little arm bauble today.  You two break up already?"  
  
    "We're not..." She sighed in exasperation but caught herself.  Kissing wasn't exactly a promise of anything - Emma had broken more promised over kisses than gold.  The Sorceress was easy on the eyes, and fuck could she kiss!  "It's not like that." she decided on.  
  
    He nodded, unconvinced.  "So you're just screwing her while she's around."  
  
    Emma's hackled twitched.  "We're not screwing, you bastard.  Let it go."  
  
    "Damn shame."  
  
    "Really?"  Now was the curiass and she glowered at the ties.  "Don't project your twisted fantasies.  It's not polite, I hear."  
  
    "She's got a good hit."  
  
    Emma stopped to stare him down.  "No fucking way.  You leave her outta here."  
  
    "She came in of her own free will."  
  
    "Owyn, she doesn't even like me fighting here.  The hell makes you think she's gonna jump on board?"  
  
    "The Arena takes all kinds, kid."  
  
    "Give me my gold before I bloody your nose."  
  
    He shook his head once more but tossed her the purse.  "You in a hurry?  Usually you stick around longer."  
  
    Emma tightened her belt and hopped a few times to get her greaves comfortable.  "Yeah, gotta go find the bauble.  We've got places to be."  
  
    "Big date planned?"  
  
    "Shut up."  
  
      
      
    "Your face."  
  
    Emma blinked at the wash of afternoon sunlight assaulting her eyes.  "Regina?"  
  
    "Who else?"  
  
    "Dibella?" she grinned.  "I didn't think you'd be waiting.  Magical enchanty things and weird smells in the University couldn't hold your attention?"  
  
    "Idiot."  Dark eyes rolled.  "What happened here?  You didn't have this two hours ago."  
  
    Fingertips gently stroked over the three scars on Emma's cheek.  She turned her face away.  "Eh, it's nothing.  Guess sometimes the Basin can't heal everything."  
  
    "Something so superficial?" she frowned, reaching her hand up once more.  "I think I can fix it."  
  
    "Don't."  
  
    Her hand captured by Emma's, Regina cocked a brow, inadvertently making full eye-contact for the first time in days.  
  
    Emma's breath caught.  "I...uh...don't worry about it."    
  
    "Right."  She glanced to Emma's lips.  
  
    "We, um...we need to talk."  
  
    Back to green eyes.  "Talk?"  
  
    Emma shook her head.  "T-to Baurus.  Amulet.  Emperor.  World...stuff..."  
  
    "Mmhm..."  
  
    "Beg pardon, ladies, but I'll have to ask you to move or bet."  
  
    Fuzzy gave them a pointed glare, drawing Emma's eye to the few people they were blocking from entering the Arena.  "Oh..."  
  
    As she was still holding Regina's hand, Emma used the limb to pull Regina along and away from the snickering patrons. "Any luck with the enchantments?"  
  
    Regina hadn't even been by the building.  "No, nothing much."  
  
    The afternoon crowd was in full swing in the Market district.  Regina forced Emma to walk before her, the better to keep an eye out for pickpockets as they cut through the mass.  Twenty minutes and one narrowly avoided confrontation with an Orc twice Emma's size and they breathed deep of the wide-open spaces of the Elven Gardens district.  
  
    "Black Horse Courier, ladies?"  
  
    Emma blinked at the sheet thrown into her face, the inked lettering blurring before her eyes.  "Get lost." she snorted, pushing the man aside.  
  
    Regina snagged the sheet before he could run off.  "It is the fastest way to get news, Swan."  
  
    "It's irritating.  Ever been almost run down by one of those black horses?"  
  
    Brown eyes rolled behind the paper.  
  
    "People are always eager to shove the damn things off on you.  I had fire-starter paper for a week after my first trip to this damn city."  
  
    "They're free.  I'm sure people we just trying to be nice."  
  
    "And the criers.  Just before dawn, they're up and screaming their fool heads off."  
  
    "I wonder if that's why they call them criers."  
  
    The mocking stopped Emma's tirade, enough that she could grab the sheet from Regina.    
  
    "Hey!"  
  
    "Quill-Weave...there's an exciting read."  She rolled her eyes and handed the paper back.  "I'm _so_ glad we have a free courier service to keep us updated, loudly, on the latest in a series of trashy adventure novels."  
  
    "If only you could appreciate good writing." Regina grumbled, folding the paper and tucking it into her bag.  
  
    "Henry writes better stories.  In his head."  
  
    "Then we should buy some ink and paper for him while we're here."  
  
    Emma sighed and held the door of Luther's Boarding House open.  Regina ducked under her arm to enter.  "He doesn't need to be an author.  He's just gotta be a kid."  
  
    She ignored the way Regina shook her head.  Inside, the lighting was subdued, forcing Emma to squint until her eyes adjusted and she spied a somewhat familiar face at the bar.  "Stay here a minute."  
  
    "Why?"  
  
    "He doesn't know you.  Might make him tense."  
  
    "All the better to introduce me."  
  
    As what, almost passed her lips.  Instead, she frowned and shrugged the Sorceress off to approach the bar.  Emma claimed a stool and ordered an ale.  "Been a while."  
  
    "I heard you were coming.  Took your sweet time getting here."  
  
    "You haven't noticed the end of the world is waiting for me?" she chuckled, nodding at the barkeep and tossing him two coins.  
  
    "Not for much longer."  
  
    "What did you need help with?"  
  
    "I'm being tailed.  Guy in the corner.  Follow him."  
  
      
  
  
    Regina tried to be nice about it.  
  
    Of course, in the end, they did it Emma's way.  
  
    "T-Take it!!" Gwinas squealed, shoving the book at them in the hopes Emma would set him down.  
  
    She did and was even nice enough to straighten out his robes before he scurried off.  "Thanks, friend."  
  
    Regina pulled a slip of paper from between the pages, eyebrows rising.  "Emma.  This says there is a meeting happening."  
  
    "When?"  
  
    "Oh, about now."  
  
    They hurried back to the Elven Gardens district to warn Baurus.  He insisted they come along - it was the entire reason he requested backup and his patience paid off.    
  
    "The sewers?" Regina's nose curled at the thought.  
  
    Emma grinned, bright as the daylight, and slapped an arm across Regina's shoulders.  "Yeah, princess!  Remember when we first met and that **lovely** reception I got when I came back to the city?  I can tell you, the smell goes away after a few laps around the Rumare!"  
  
    "I don't think this is gonna be pretty." Baurus announced as they settled their boots onto the sewer stones.  They were cleaner than Regina anticipated.  "Note said to come alone, only one of us can go down there.  I think I should be the once since I have a blood debt t-"  
  
    "I'll go." the pair spoke as one.  
  
    Emma rolled her eyes.  "Don't joke.  When this goes South, and it's gonna, I'm taking these Mythic creeps out."  
  
    "Uh, the Emperor died on my wa-" Baurus tried.  
  
    "Brains over brawn, Swan." Regina prodded the armored biceps.  "On my own, I can conjure pets and bring down enough magic to send them crying to Arkay."  
  
    "Tick tock, lovers." he sighed.  
  
    " _We're not-_!" they exclaimed as one, then flushed and looked away from one another.  
  
    "I'm going." Regina growled, shouldering past her companions.  
  
    "Regina!"  
  
    Baurus grabbed Emma and forced her into a crouch.  "Shh!  Hear that?  They're coming."  
  
    Emma twitched but held still, drawing her bow and eyeing the gate across the catwalk.  Though she had precious few, the Monk drew silver arrows from her bag.  She mumbled a prayer to Nocturnal and Baurus cocked a brow her way.  "Not a fan of luck?" she smirked.  
  
    "I prefer the strength of Talos."  
  
    Without instruction, Regina took a seat at the lone chair.  She expected to be made to wait, powerplays were just so much fun in that way, however the gate to her left squeaked open after a few minutes, admitting a body that had Regina drawing her hood up.  Her eyes tracked him from the dark as he scowled upon her.  
  
    "So...you want to become one of the Chosen of Mehrunes Dagon."  
  
    He paced around behind her.  Regina didn't turn her head.  
  
    "The path of Dawn is difficult but the rewards are great."  
  
    It shouldn't have surprised her to see another of her mother's goons.  Even before Regina had been forced out by her father, her mother's reach was long and hungry.  She just hoped he didn't get a good look at her face.  
  
    "I have the book you seek."  He reappeared at her left.  "With it and the Master's three other books, you will possess the key to Enlightenment, child."  A chuckle and he leaned on the table.  "But, do you have the willpower to..."  
  
    A sword clattered to the ground and Raven whipped around.  "What?  Stupid girl, you were supposed to come alone!!"  Daedric armor appeared in a wash of yellow smoke.  "Kill them!"  
  
    He turned back and Regina took to her feet, smiling.  
  
    "What are you grinning for?  We will end you!"  
  
    She pulled her hood away and took a deep, dark joy in the way his face washed white.  No matter the time away from comfort, servants, and finery, he recognized her.  "Would you care to know how your pet wolf is doing?"

  
  
    The breath fled from Emma as her back hit the stone.  "Oh you bastard..." she wheezed, rolling onto all fours.  
  
    "You okay?" Baurus called, sending a body down to join her - this one dead.  
  
    "Sure..." She pushed herself upright and moved for the stairs but caught someone on the way, looking over his shoulder to see Regina holding a hand over her mouth.  Blood trickled from between her fingers and Emma snapped the agent's neck before he could turn to see her.  Regina's Flame Atronach lazily floated around her mistress, backing off as Emma approached.  "Y'okay?" she frowned, reaching to pry Regina's fingers away.  
  
    The brunette flinched.  "I'm fine."  
  
    White healing magics erupted from behind the armored palm.  Emma still scowled and nudged her hand out of the way, twisting Regina's chin about.  "Just a cut."  
  
    "Nothing of consequence."   
  
    "Right." she smiled, thumb wiping some of the blood away.  
  
    The Atronach disappeared with a soft 'foomp' and they were plunged into a forgiving blackness, broken only by the few paltry candles on the table.  "Did it leave a mark?" Regina breathed.  
  
    "Mmhm..." Emma hummed.  "Right here."  
  
    Dry lips touched the faint sting near the corner of her mouth and if Regina moved ever so, she could -  
  
    "Good fight!"  
  
    A torch threw them into focus and Regina shook her head.  Surely Emma wasn't an arm's length  away a moment ago!  Baurus clapped Emma on the shoulder, all grins.  "Now you have all four books, my friend.  I believe I'm overdue to return to Cloud Ruler Temple and keep tabs on our future Emperor!"  
  
    "Yeah, you do that." Emma smiled, clearing her dry throat.  "I guess we'll figure out the next step."  
  
    "Tar-Meena could help, if you get lost." he suggested.  
  
    "We'll see." she shrugged.  
  
    Baurus gave a nod to Regina and left the way he'd come.    
  
    Alone in the dark once more, the heroes shuffled awkwardly.  Emma cleared her throat again.  "We should probably take a more careful look at the, uh...books."  A hand gripped the neck of her curiass.  "Regina?"  
  
    The Sorceress yanked her down into a hard, teeth-scraping, graceless kiss.  Emma winced and pulled Regina's face back.  "Ow."  
  
    She initiated the second go; gentler, no teeth.  Not until Regina sucked the blonde's lower lip and gave it a good nip before releasing.  "You don't want to?" she purred, then cooled.  "Or is it me?"  
  
    "Y-your lip..." she spat the first thing that came to mind, the taste of iron still on her tongue.  
  
    "Hmm..." Regina dabbed at the reopened scar with her tongue.  "Fine."  
  
    Left leaning against the stairs, and when had her knees turned to water anyway, Emma sucked in a breath.  "That's it?"  
  
    Regina paused her ascension, a dark brow rising.  "Should I drag it out some more?"  
  
    As if she weren't.  Emma glared at the retreating Sorceress, then dropped her eyes when she realized her view wasn't nearly as high as Regina's shoulders.  She hunched over and sulked up the stairs.  
  
  
  
  
    Regina poured over the texts with studious zeal as Emma procured a meal for them.  While the Monk plowed through hers and eyed Regina's nearly untouched plate, Regina muttered to herself, sketching out an odd letter or two there and here.  Emma was drawn to the Sorceress' fingers, taking note of the fine bone structure and soft twitches of tendon behind the knuckles.  She was trained to notice these things, to use them against an opponent, but thought nothing of yanking joints from sockets.  Rather, Emma found her mind wishing to see each cord of tissue taught as Regina's hands flexed and strained...  
  
    The blonde cleared her throat and studied her crumb-studded plate with keen interest.  She about came out of her skin when Regina gasped.  There was lightning-fast babble about how the answer was too obvious but Regina shot out of the inn without a backwards glance.  At a loss, Emma jammed what food she could into her pack to set out after her.  
  
    Regina guided her to the side of a tomb where an angry red map was just about to fade.  They scrambled to note the location - something Northwest of Cheydinhal.  Nothing of the books indicated what exactly they were looking for no matter how many times Regina read over them.  Emma insisted it was probably some wet, muddy hole in the ground while the Sorceress nervously picked at her armor and argued it was likely something more sophisticated.  
  
    Emma let the debate fall into silence and got a full night's sleep as Regina was too wired to rest.  
  
    By dawn, Regina had taken little more than an upright catnap.  Her back was bowed in the saddle and though the mere sight made Emma wince, she realized that Regina was actually sleeping so let her be.  Mirabelle kept Bitter on course and at a long stride that wasn't a trot but didn't drop back to a walk either.  No matter how tired Regina was, Emma felt speed was their best choice.  
  
    The Sorceress woke near midday, twisting her back about with enough cracks in her spinal column that Emma shivered.  Regina gave her a nod and rummaged up a bit of cheese and bread to nibble on.  "Where are we now?"  
  
    "North of the Rumare."  
  
    That would be why the air wasn't quite as cool.  Coming in from the East, the wind was temperate but dry.  "Thank you for letting me sleep."  
  
    "You kidding?  I fought two brigades of highly trained Dark Brothers while you were out cold."  
  
    A roll of brown eyes.  "I'm sure."  
  
    "I just want to know how you do that." she cringed.  "I'd fall off the second my eyes closed."  
  
    Regina put thought into it and shrugged a shoulder.  "I don't know.  Even Daniel was impressed.  We would sometimes go on rides in the early hours before dawn.  Rocinante would never go fast enough to disturb me."  
  
    "Roci-who?"   
  
    "My horse."  She smiled and it was much as she had in remembering Daniel, bittersweet.  "He was a runt - my mother ordered the grooms to kill him on the spot.  Daniel pleaded for his life, as did I."  A sharper smile; cold and satisfied.  "She gave him an insulting name, not too proud to belittle even a horse, and made sure I was to ride no finer creature."  
  
    Emma snorted.  "I'm guessing you didn't take it as an insult."  
  
    "Oh no."    
  
    Now her smile was happy and Emma stared in wonder.  How many faces could one woman hold?  
  
    "Rocinante and I were great friends.  He held all the fire of mother's favorites and twice the smarts.  No one could ride him but me."  
  
    "So...you left him behind?"  
  
    All emotion fled Regina's face, locked up behind the darkness of her eyes.  "No."  
  
    She would say no more.  
  
    Nightfall of their second day, they had left the main road by crossing the ruins of Fort Chalman.  Regina nitpicked and fussed over not going to Cheydinhal itself and asking for directions.  Emma gave her an odd look.  "How many Mythic Dawn agents do you think are going to run out and volunteer their big, secret hole in the ground to a couple of ragged travellers?"  
  
    So into the wild they went, directed only by instinct and the hope of luck.  
  
    Emma poked around the wilds until satisfied with their location, camping under trees rather than stars.  "Should be safe for a fire."  
  
    "What were you dreaming about?"  
  
    "I don't dream.  Never have." the blonde kicked a few sticks together.  
  
    Regina obligingly launched a fireball into the paltry stack of kindling before tying up the horses.  "At the Temple, I mean."  
  
    Emma could feel her ears and neck warming up so stuck closer to the shadows, looking for additional burnables.  "I was meditating."  
  
    "Call it what you will.  You were positively white from something you saw."  
  
    Belle, Regina, Ruby, the cruel, gaping lashes across the bare backs of her parents - Emma was grateful to have not seen Henry.  She never put much stock in her visions as they were just ways to unwind but the last one had seemed so very, very real.  The blush faded as she approached their small fire.  "It was nothing."  
  
    A dark brow rose.  "Ah, nothing.  Nothing made you practically bite off your own tongue and vault away from me as though I were mo..." Regina paused her kit setup.    
  
    Emma jabbed at the fire in a manner most dilligent.  The flames licked happily at the new offerings.  
  
    "Did she say something to you?"  
  
    "It's nothing, alright?  Just some silly trick of my mind caused by what's happening."  
  
    Regina knelt beside her companion.  She reached out to touch Emma's shoulder but the Monk flinched away.  It hurt unexpectedly.  "An illusion terrified you enough that you had to kiss me to make sure I was still alive?  That I was real?"  
  
    Embers floated towards the unseen stars.  Emma watched them burn out.  "I'm...gonna protect you.  You know that, right?"  
  
    "What is this?" Regina's brow knit.  
  
    "You're in my meditations now.  Did I tell you that?" she chuckled without humor.  "Damn princess is stuck in my head all the time now, like it or not."  
  
    Tension rolled off of Emma in palpable waves but Regina reached through to cup Emma's cheek.  "I'm real, Emma.  Right here."  
  
    "Why did you kiss me?"  
  
    She almost tossed the question back or snipped a sarcastic 'when' but Regina was soothed enough by Emma's lack of retreat to stroke with her thumb and reply softly.  "I'm not sure."  
  
    "Liar."  
  
    Green eyes flashed in the firelight, humor in their depths but altogether too intense to laugh.  It felt like Regina was being looked through.  "I wanted to."  Her lips twitched.  "You and Henry and that little village you hate so much, it's all starting to feel like..."  
  
    "This is a problem."  
  
    Not the reply she hoped for.  
  
    Emma sighed, pulling Regina's hand down.  "I can't protect you if you're...."  Her free hand waved between her head and her heart as she sighed in exhasperation.  "...here!  Okay?  It doesn't work."  
  
    "Is that why you kissed me?" she challenged.  "Because it doesn't work?"  
  
    "It felt good."  Emma glowered.  "Feel good and get the hell out, that's all I do."  
  
    Regina smirked.  "Do you often hold hands with people that make you feel good?"  
  
    Emma's hand slacked but the brunette didn't release.  "Knock it off!  This is a horrible, horrible idea!"  
  
    The Monk leaned back as Regina moved forward, inadvertently staring at her friend's full lips.  "Do you cuddle your good times, Swan?"  
  
    "You cuddle." came the mumbled protest.  
  
    "And you, the Queen of Standoffishness, let me." she blinked.  "And hold me in turn."  
  
    "You're...um..."  Her dizzy brain hurried to process.  "...bad idea..."  
  
    Regina sealed away any furthur protests with the press of her lips.  
  
  
  
  
      
    When things moved into heavy-breathing territory, fuck Regina's nubile tongue, Emma begged off on account of taking a watch but her lips still buzzed and she could feel the pressure where Regina's fingers had wormed under her belt.  After an hour of dead silence in her head, Emma's brain kicked into high gear, making her especially jumpy, and lead her to the conclusion that the dangerous nature of their situation brought them here.  Danger implied the end of life which meant people, including her until-now sane companion, tried to jam as much living as possible into whatever few minutes they imagined were left.  
  
    Ergo, danger made Regina insane.  And horny.  
  
    Emma thumped her forehead onto the nearest tree trunk and timed it to help ignore the persistent throb between her legs.    
  
    They spent much of the following morning and afternoon busily sticking their heads into barrows and barns in an attempt to narrow down the rather large Dawn marker.  Emma was absolutely avid about spending every single moment doing something.  Regina watched her flit about with a shake of her head.  Honestly!  It wasn't as if she was going to grab the Monk if she were still for two minutes!  
  
    Then again, Emma's completely undignified yelp echoing off the cave walls made it entirely worth giving in to the impulse.    
  
    "Goddamnit, keep your hands to your damned self!!" the blonde hissed, red as Mythic Dawn robes when she slapped Regina's hands off her ass.  
  
    Unrepentant, the Sorceress beamed and threatened to lose it when Emma glared and pointed at her.  She took a few halting breaths, managing to contain herself long enough to speak.  "I think they might be expecting us."  
  
    "Well if they weren't be- _fucking-fore_!!" Emma growled, still quite red.  
  
    "No, I mean, if we have all the books they know we've seen Raven Camoran and we can get in without hassle."  
  
    It was worth a shot, though Emma made Regina walk almost a bow-length in front of her.  
  
    The Dawn boys certainly liked to hear themselves talk.  Emma bit her tongue to keep from yawning at the guardian of the door.  Once past the barrier, Regina gave her companion an all-too-proud smirk.  Emma took point with Harrow, though, and his demand for all their possessions made her turn back to Regina with a quirked eyebrow.  That was all the warning she got before Emma slammed her fist straight into the agent's nose.  
  
    "Miss Swan..." Regina groaned in exasperation.  
  
    Emma prodded about the man's pockets.  "Princess, you might be able to call up all unholy manners of magic to fight but I'd much rather keep my bow and slug through these freaks."  
  
    "Barbarian."  
  
    "Got it in one." she tapped her nose smartly.  
  
    Regina refused to remove her boots so Emma hung back, arrows knocked as she watched from the shadows while Regina played the bait.  The barrow paths were straight-forward and short, making the numbers they encountered very small.  "Almost like nobody's home." Emma mused.  
  
    "They mentioned an initiation, maybe they are gathered elsewhere."  
  
    Gathered they were.  After Emma flooded a lock with the little magic she possessed, not without teasing and denial, the pair found themselves in a vast cavern.  The upper-level they entered onto was swallowed with pure shadows to Emma's great delight.  She slunk to the edge, where torchlight peeked over, and waved to Regina.  "Damn.  You were right."  
  
    At the bottom of the cavern, eleven robed figures were gathered around a massive statue of Mehrunes Dagon.  A low, steady murmur of voices delivered praise to the effigy as a stronger, louder voice rose above.  "...we hold the Amulet of Kings.  Praise be to your brothers and sisters.  Great shall be their reward in Paradise!  Hear now the words of Lord Dagon: When I walk the earth again, the faithful among you shall receive your reward: to be set above all other mortals forever."  
  
    "What?" Emma nudged her frowning companion.  "Just a nut like the others."  
  
    "A nut with the Amulet of Kings."  Regina squinted in the dim lighting - Camoran seemed to shift oddly, moving in and out of the light and changing faces.  
      
    "I don't see it on him if he's wearing it."  The Monk rubbed at her chest in memory of the amulet's incredible warmth.  
  
    "There's something strange..."   
  
    As she said it, Camoran's voice lifted once more and Regina saw it.  Crystal clear for all of a flash, Regina saw the golden, scaled face of Rumpelstiltskin.  She hauled back from the edge and ran for the stairs far on her left.  Emma hustled to keep up, hotfooting out of the way as a Flame Atronach burst into life behind Regina.  She wanted to be quiet, to take her shots from above, but the assembly was now fully aware of the steady slam of Regina's boots and they were rallying.  
  
    Camoran continued to preach.  
  
    "What is wrong with you?" Emma snapped, dodging a frigid ball of ice and sending an arrow to the caster in thanks.   
  
    "It's him!  Don't let him leave!"  
  
    Him?  Emma was baffled but dove into the fray after Regina, having never seen the Sorceress put herself in the thick of battle.  Casters preferred the edge - cleaner vision and a faster ability to run away.  "Who is..." she trailed off, eyes wide.  
  
    The preaching stopped as unnatural eyes rolled towards Emma.  "Ah, so good of you to join us, dearies!  Don't mind them, they just want a little blood."  
  
    He took three hearty shards of ice to the back and merely grunted.  Emma watched the viscous blood seep before the ice shattered as Rumpel turned.  Regina was shaking an Argonian awake near the effigy's feet so Emma hauled onto the platform and scowled.  "Give us the amulet."  
      
    "Temper, temper.  All in good time."  
  
    "It's only good in the hands of a Septim."  She kicked an agent down the short set of steps, straight into the Flame Atronach making chaos below.  "What do you even need it for?"  
  
  
  
    Jeelius, as he introduced himself, cowered in the darkest corner while Regina rejoined the fight.  The pets she summoned, almost as afterthoughts, had wrecked the assembly - four initiates lay dead and the rest were looking frantic.  She scuttled away from a blast of lightning launched by none other than Ruma, Raven's sister; and there was plain recognition in her hate-filled eyes.   
  
    " _You_!!" the Altmer hissed.  "I heard you fled home to play hero!"  
  
    "Your brother heard as well." Regina sneered.  "Right before he had his neck broken."  
  
    Ruma laughed, against Regina's expectations.  "You will see him again, child.  Soon."  
  
    The Sorceress was forced into a brief fight while Ruma waited patiently.  When she could breathe again, Regina glowered at the malevolent smirk.  "Why believe this rot about your twisted father's Paradise?"  
  
    "Careful, sister." she clucked.  "Word spreads that he is as much yours as mine."  
  
    "Shut up!" Regina roared, hand extended to choke Ruma through force of will.  Her unfortunate, if amusing, practices on Emma proved a boon now as the effort was little more than thought.  "That **thing** is not my father!"  Her eyes burned but she didn't dare blink.  "My father is dead..."  
  
    Ruma's laugh rasped around the gaps in her throat.  The yellow tones of her skin grew mottled with greens and violets.  "That...pithy babysitter?  Weak...stup--"  
  
    Her eyes burst from their sockets under the pressure around her throat - the flesh looking more like a bloody, wrung towel than a neck when she dropped to the ground.  Regina slumped to her knees as her control died.  Blood dribbled from her nostrils and her hands shook when she rose to wipe it away.    
  
  
  
    "You really think you can get away with that?" Emma ground out, each muscle fighting the magic holding her down.    
  
    Rumpel grinned, fingertips tapping together.  "And all who follow me will serve.  They will have the eternity promised to them but they will serve."  
  
    Emma's retorted jammed into a pained silence when all five fingers of her right hand were pulled out of joint with wet, fleshy pop sounds.  She focused on not biting her tongue, blinking away the shiny sparks of light in her view.  "You'll fail..." she hissed, breath nearly steaming from her nostrils.  
  
    "Is that so?" Rumpel cocked his head.  
  
    Emma's right elbow was wrenched back at an unnatural angle, snapping loudly in chorus to the breaks in her forearm and wrist.  She howled in agony, fighting the darkness seeping into the edges of her vision as the invisible force released her and allowed her to cradle the wrecked arm under her body.  Emma was a dragon now, breathing all but fire while her skin paled further, putting her eyes in stark relief.  "Dagon is using Cora.  She'll be dead the second he can enter Tamriel."  
  
    "A pity but a necessary sacrifice." he shrugged.  "Eternity isn't for everyone."  
  
    "Then who commands the legions?"  
  
    Rumpel smiled and the darkness fluttered around Emma's vision.  "It might be suggested that someone else claim the throne.  Someone used to Daedra.  Someone who will take orders without question."  
  
    To his surprised, Emma laughed.  Rumpel removed the invisible pressure holding her down but Emma remained almost-kneeling, leaning on her left arm.  "Have you and I met the same princess?" she chuckled.  "That woman can't take orders without a death-threat!"  A grin.  "And I know she'd rather die than help you."  
  
    He smile returned, decidedly even more evil, before he knelt and plunge his hand into Emma's chest.  "What makes you think..." one squeeze and Emma jerked.  "...I would have to kill **her**?"  
  
    The bastard giggled and Emma raised her left arm to punch, only to bring her hand to his arm as he squeezed.  She choked and sputtered, face contorting in pain never before known.   
  
    "What's that, dearie?" Rumpel leaned closer, grinning as though listening to her heart.  "Ah, she has an entire village of people she cares for?  Well, that certainly makes things...easier..."  
  
    His voice slowed and his grip loosened, giving Emma a chance to take several deep gulps of air around the invasive pressure.  He looked into her eyes, though, and her heart might as well already be pulsing and bloody in his hand.  
  
    "You.  You have her."  
  
    "No." she breathed, wincing as the pressure built again.  
  
    Rumpel's face contorted past evil.  "I've had spies through that mudhole and seen nothing but she is here in your heart.  Where is she?!"  
  
    Emma wanted to curse him out but she could only scream as the pain magnified ten-fold, nearly sparking off her fingertips with its need to expand and grow.  He continued to demand answers she couldn't possibly breathe to give when her body grew numb and with that sweet relief, limp.  Numb appeared to be an overstatement, though, for her broken arm smacked into the stone platform with white-hot reminders needling behind her eyes.  She studied the fanged-ceiling as her chest expanded.  Dank cave-air never tasted so wonderful!  
  
    Rumpel wiped at his jaw, cocking his head at the sight and taste of his own blood.  He smiled.  "Been a long time since I've seen any of this."  
  
    "You'll see more of it in a minute." Regina tried to focus, to stay steady on her feet.  As dipping into her own magicka would be unwise at the moment, she held a staff - rarely used but kept for just-in-case.  
  
    "I see the brute has taught you a few new behaviors.  Not a problem - a few days and we'll have it all straightened out once more."  
  
    "I'm not going with you..."  
  
    He side stepped an ice-bolt and tutted.  "Sloppy, dearie.  Perhaps you should get some rest.  Sleep."  
  
    She could feel the magicks flooding her system, making her drowsy, and drew up the smallest dispel she could, though Regina still ended up leaning on the staff rather than weaponizing it.  "No.  Run back to mother.  Tell her I am never coming home."  
  
    He took two steps towards her and then one back as Emma swung between them, her left fist just barely clearing his nose.  "You are a niusance, churl."  Rumpel waved a hand to flick her out of the way but Emma stayed standing and still.  He frowned.    
  
    "No more tricks." Emma scowled, left side forward to defend her broken right.  
  
    Rumpel saw it; just a flash of motion while Emma's left arm swung with her breathing.  Regina had the fingers of her free hand wrapped around Emma's dislocated thumb.  Although it must have hurt, Emma showed no sign of it.  In fact, she looked clueless about what Regina was doing in favor of glaring.  Glee and frustration mixed within him.  Regina seemed bent on killing herself to save the brute and he couldn't have that.  "Very well, dearies.  Until next time."  
  
    He stepped back into a tear between realities, into Oblivion.  Emma wasn't sad to see him go, just frustrated that she didn't get to rip his giggling head off.    
  
    "Take the book..." Regina breathed, both hands wrapped around her staff.  
  
    Emma collected the rough skin binding and frowned at the pages.  "This doesn't make any sense."  Regina asked to see it and Emma got her first good look at the Sorceress.  "Mercy of Mara, what the hell happened?"  
  
    Regina found it difficult to explain what with Emma cleaning the blood off her face.  Again.  It was done with such gentle care, though, that the Sorceress was happy to hold her tongue for a minute.  "Too much magic..." she supplied.  
  
    "Must be why you're bowed like an old-one, too." Emma smirked.  
  
    Regina let the barb slide.  "Your arm."  
  
    Emma looked over the appendage, grateful she could move her shoulder.  "Yeah...golden boy tried to get me to kneel.  I wouldn't let my knees touch the ground."  
  
    "Idiot."  
  
    "Says the tapped-out Sorceress.  Where's the Argonian?"  
  
    Regina pointed and Emma jogged over to the shadows, clearing her throat.  "Hey, you alright?"  
  
    He stared untrustingly for a few moments before coming out of his crouch.  "I'm fine, but confused.  I am Jeelius, priest of the Temple of the One.  What am I doing here?"  
  
    "Good question.  C'mere."  
  
    Regina protested Emma's idea, insisting she could walk on her own, but one look at the number of steps leading up and out of the chasm made the Sorceress much more obliging.  Jeelius, with explicit instructions to not let Regina go or use magic, was an official leaning-post as Emma took point.  Regina didn't bother asking how the Monk planned on getting out with only one arm working.  The corpses they passed as they were waved up were proof enough that Emma was functioning just fine.  
  
    The Sorceress imagined she passed out at some point because when she came to, Jeelius was setting her down and Emma was getting something off Bitter's saddle.  He smiled when she twitched.  "I have performed some healing on your friend's arm but it will still take time to fully heal.  She can at least move her fingers now, even if it is painful."  
  
    "Thank you."  
  
    "Should you two come to the Imperial City, please visit the Temple of the One.  I can supply proper thanks at that time."  
  
    She nodded and after a few words with Emma, Jeelius took off into the woods with little more than a dagger and loincloth.  She arched a brow but Emma just shrugged.  "I offered clothes.  He said he's fine."  
  
    "Cheydinhal is almost due South from here...I hope he is headed that way."  
  
    Emma shrugged, getting a tiny fire going after a few attempts.  When it grew to a comfy blaze, she settled back against the mouth of the cave they had just cleared of Mythic Dawn.  "Well...that was a nice fight."  
  
    Regina rolled her eyes.  
  
    The Monk grabbed her and pulled her over to one-arm hug her like a large stuffed animal.  Regina relaxed her head against Emma's shoulder.  "You didn't have to set all this up just to cuddle, you know."  
  
    "Shut up."  Emma's cheeks warmed.  "Any of those Mythic creeps come by for their cave, I'll take 'em out.  You need to sleep."  
  
    "To dream."  
  
    "To snore."  
  
    "...you're lucky my magicka is so depleted."  
  
    "I think I'm still shaking from your last threat.  Space 'em out some more, okay?"  
  
    "Idiot."  
  
    "Completely."  
  
    Regina smiled.


End file.
